Those Who Remember
by SmokeyStorm
Summary: The Dark Forest has been defeated. The Clans are facing new challenges as a long ago promise has been broken and secrets lost to time a revealed. Four kits are born with the power to remember the heritage of the Clans. Things just start getting more dangerous as a group of rogues start terrorizing the Clans. The only way to save the future of the Clans, is to reveal their past.
1. Chapter 1: Beetlekit

Chapter 1: Beetlekit

"C'mon, Beetlekit! Open your eyes so we can go out and play."

Beetlekit felt a sharp prod. He decided that it was now or never and opened his eye lids.

"Ew, your eyes are weird," said the voice of his sister – Fernkit. Beetlekit turned his head to see a cream she-kit with light, silver patches and green eyes.

"Well, maybe your eyes are weird, Fernkit!" This was the first voice that had spoken. He turned his head to see a black tom kit with bright, yellow eyes. He instantly recognized this as his brother, Nightkit.

Beetlekit looked at his own pelt and realized that he looked much like Nightkit. Except that Nightkit was slightly lighter and hinted tine flecks of gray, and his was dark black without even the slightest hint of any other color. "What's wrong with my eyes?" He asked, mostly to himself.

The voice of his mother, Mosspelt, is what spoke next, "Nothing, honey, it's just they may be a little… dark." Concern edged her mew as she looked into the black eyes of Beetlekit that matched his pelt.

"Well, okay, then! Let's go outside!" Nightkit excitedly bounced around the nursery and towards the exit.

"Don't get into any trouble," Mosspelt called after them as Fernkit and Beetlekit raced after Nightkit. Mosspelt sighed. She had never heard of any cat with black eyes. She knew that Beetlekit would have a tough life somehow.

There was a deep sigh and Fernkit said, "Just smell that all those scents!" Once they had walked out into the clearing of the RiverClan camp.

"Yes, especially that with the river flowing past," Nightkit agreed.

Beetlekit looked from one of his siblings to the other, confused. What were they talking about, scents? Beetlekit breathed in deeply, "Yea, the air feels good."

Both Fernkit and Nightkit looked at Beetlekit nervously. "Of course, but what about all the scents? You know those wonderful things that smell good?" Nightkit asked.

Fernkit snickered. "What? Can't you smell them?" She sarcastically teased. She didn't know how real her words are – Beetlekit couldn't smell a thing.

"Smell what?" He asked. Both kits then gave him a look of horror.

"Mom! Come quick! There is something wrong with Beetlekit," Fernkit called as she raced into the nursery. The warriors from around the camp then stared over at where Beetlekit and Nightkit were standing; Fernkit's shouting sparked their interest.

"Oh, Fernkit! What could be wrong with Beetlekit?" Mosspelt said as she walked towards her two sons.

"He can't smell!" She shouted loud enough for the whole camp to her. There were several gasps from the warriors and Mistystar came out of her den, interest as to what all the shouting was about.

"What happened?" She called.

Fernkit then got as smug look on her face; glad that all the warriors, and even the leader, were paying attention to her. "Beetlekit can't smell anything."

While all this was happening, Beetlekit felt lost and frightened. "What do you mean by smell? The air feels good, what else is there for it?"

At this, Mistystar they supported a look of great sadness. "Willowshine," she called to her medicine cat.

Willowshine entered the clearing. "What is it?" She asked Mistystar.

"We believe that Beetlekit can't smell. Could you make sure?" Mistystar asked. She was hoping against hope that it wasn't true.

Willowshine dipped her head. "Of course, Mistystar," she answered the leader. She turned to Beetlekit. "Come along, little one." She called.

Beetlekit scampered over to her. "Y-yes?" He asked, worriedly.

Willowshine set down two pieces of plants. "We are going to play a game. These are two herbs and you need to find the first one," she pointed to a flower, "but not this one." She pointed to some leaves.

Beetlekit nodded. Willowshine set down the herbs to that he could examine them closely.

"Now, close your eyes." Beetlekit closed his black eyes. Willowshine was worried about those, too, but she was more focused on what was at hand. She switched to places of the two herbs. "Now, without opening your eyes, can you tell me which herb I wanted you to find?"

Beetlekit nodded. He hesitated for a bit, and, with closed eyes, looked from the locations of the two herbs. He'd heard Willowshine move them, but he wasn't she which was which. He mewed, frustrated, "How am I supposed to tell the two apart with my eyes closed?"

The rest of the camp looked at each other with worry. How was a cat supposed to become a warrior when they couldn't smell? "Use your nose, little one," she encourage.

"Um… this one." He pointed to the spot where he remembered the flower was, but that was the spot the leaves were now. He then opened his eyes to see that he was wrong.

Willowshine shook her head and called to Mistystar. "I'm sorry, but he cannot scent anything."

Mosspelt, along with the rest of the camp, gasped. "Are you sure?" She cried.

Willowshine nodded, "I'm afraid so."

"What? What is so important about smell?" His fur was bushed out with fright so that he looked up to twice his size.

"You can't be a warrior with no smell!" Fernkit sneered, "You'll have to become a medicine cat!"

"Actually, no, he can't." Willowshine shook her head. Beetlekit look up at her. "If anything, medicine cats need to smell more, because herbs don't move and make noise."

Mistystar nodded. She was sad that the kit could not smell, but they would find some way for him to help his Clan.

Beetlekit was frightened. He now knew that something was wrong with him. He raced as fast as he could into the nursery and buried himself in his nest.

"… Beetlekit…?" It was Mosspelt. "It's okay; it's going to be fine."

Beetlekit flattened his ears and turned his back to her. Mosspelt sighed and left.

Later in the day, Beetlekit was awoken to Fernkit's whining.

"No fair! I don't want to share a nest with-with that freak!"

Beetlekit curled up into a tighter ball. Great, not only did he have to deal with the fact that he couldn't smell, but Fernkit just _had_ to rub it him. _Why is she so mean, anyway?_ He thought. _It's not like I've done anything to her!_

Eventually, Mosspelt and Nightkit drifted off to sleep. Beetlekit was just about to do the same, when a paw slammed into his face. He let out a hiss of annoyance and rubbed his nose.

"Don't worry, little freak. You'll never become a warrior. You're just a useless scrap of black fur that matches your eyes!" Fernkit hissed at him, before sharply prodding him in the ribs with an unsheathed paw. Fernkit curled up next to their mom and pushed Beetlekit away. She then easily fell asleep with a smirk on her face.

Beetlekit didn't like how he couldn't smell. He also didn't like how her was the smallest, but luckily Nightkit was the biggest and Fernkit wasn't that bigger than him. But Fernkit was still big enough to bully him and there wasn't anything that Beetlekit could do about it. Beetlekit soon drifted off to a dream filled sleep.


	2. Chapter 2: Blazekit

Chapter 2: Blazekit

"Toss it here, Blazekit!"

The golden kit with a flame-colored streak running from his nose to his tail tip, known as Blazekit turned his eyes, the color of leaves in newleaf, to a silver tom with black tabby stripes and white paws.

"Here you go, Stonekit." Blazekit shouted as he tossed the moss ball to his brother.

Before Stonekit could reach out and grab it, Featherkit leap out and pounced on it. Featherkit looked a lot like Stonekit, except she was a moon younger than the brother and had lighter fur and markings along with light green eyes instead on Stonekit's dark amber. When she hit the ground, her brother, Stormkit – a dark gray tom with black spots and blue eyes – leapt on his sister.

Featherkit let out a squeak of surprise as the ball rolled out of her paws, and right into Stonekit's. "Hah! Bet you weren't counting on that one, Featherkit. Thanks, Stormkit."

Blazekit purred in amusement. It was always interesting to play moss ball with all of the kits. He just hoped it wouldn't end up like last time when the warriors had to force them apart.

Featherkit darted towards the moss ball at Stonekit's paws, successfully distracting the two while Blazekit reached in a grabbed it. Before Stonekit and Stormkit knew what had happened, Featherkit raced away. The two thought she had retreated, and turned to see the moss ball – and Blazekit – gone.

"Hey, no fair!" They shouted as one as the raced around camp looking for Blazekit. Although he was the one with striking golden fur, and a flaming streak, he was the best at stealth and hiding. That is not to mention he was a little of the smartest.

Stonekit and Stormkit were both the biggest of their litters (although with Stonekit and Blazekit you could barely tell), but Blazekit and Featherkit were the fastest (and the smartest).

Featherkit met Blazekit at their normal hiding place, in a hollowed out section of the tree that lay in the middle of the camp. They both giggled that their brother had fallen for their trick, again.

Not wanting to have their hiding spot discovered, their sneaked into the center of the camp and acted like they had been there all along. This gave them even more to laugh about when the two other kits noticed them and raced over, scowling.

"Well, that was fun. Let's go find something else to do." Blazekit said.

"We could always catch stray tails from under the warrior's den," Stormkit suggested.

"If all four of us do that, then we'd all get caught!" Featherkit exclaimed.

"Hey, I'm not that clumsy!" Stormkit argued.

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!

"You're as clumsy as a badger!"

"No I'm not!"

The two kits went on arguing like this until Blazekit shouted, "Enough! If all four of us go, then it will be plenty obvious because sometimes, more cats aren't better." This silenced the two quarreling siblings as the four of them debated what to do next.

"I know how about we sneak out of camp." Stonekit whispered.

"Yea! That sounds great!" Stormkit exclaimed.

"No way, we'd get into trouble. Plus, we'd be breaking to warrior code." Featherkit scoffed.

"What's the matter? Afraid you'd get caught? I thought you were the stealthy one." Stormkit teased.

"No! It's just that it's a bad idea is all."

Stormkit rolled his eyes, "Sure, keep telling yourself that."

Featherkit hissed.

"This is a bad idea."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have come."

"Hey, I came to keep you out of trouble!"

"I can take care of myself!"

"Would you two be quiet? Remember, we are trying _not_ to get caught." Blazekit's last comment silenced Stormkit Featherkit. They had just snuck out of camp, and luckily hadn't run into any warriors.

"Blazekit's right. We could attract warriors here. For all we know, they could be swarming the territory looking for us." Stonekit whispered.

"Maybe we should go back while we still can say we were in camp!"

"What's the matter, Featherkit? Scared?" Stormkit teased.

"No! It's just…"

"Featherkit's right. We don't want to get into trouble."

"But –"

"Stormkit, Blazekit's right. We should listen to the stealthy ones. This was we could possibly come back not have to worry as much as if we had gotten into trouble." Stonekit hissed as the kits made their way back into camp and entered through the dirtplace tunnel.

"Look, Cinderheart! There they are." Dovewing exclaimed.

The two queens raced over to their kits once they were in the middle of camp.

"Blazekit, Stonekit, where have you been?" Cinderheart questioned while Dovewing did the same to her kits.

When Stonekit was stuttering for words, Blazekit quickly said "We were playing hide-and-seek! Did we do a good job?" Blazekit used his best voice of innocence.

Cinderheart sighed. "Yes, you did. You did such a good job we thought you'd have snuck out of camp!" She purred, "I should know that you would never do a thing like that."

Stonekit cast Blazekit a side glance. The golden kit appeared to show no guilt at all. Not even signaling to Stonekit in any way that showed the two had just been out of camp together. But Stonekit knew is brother two well, and knew that inside Blazekit really was feeling guilty. Blazekit would never admit feeling if it meant them to get into trouble.

"Well, come along, now. It's getting late." Cinderheart ushered her kits into the nursery. Blazekit would argue with Stonekit that he wasn't tired, but the sun was already setting and before he could, he let out a loud yawn. This cause Cinderheart to purr, and eared a glare from Stonekit.

The two brothers made and excellent team sometimes, but Stonekit knew that they couldn't beg for more time tonight. "Fine," was all he said when he curled up next to Blazekit in their nest, with Stormkit and Featherkit doing the same. Stormkit and Featherkit may argue a lot, but they never actually fought.

Blazekit opened his eyes into a dark dreamland. He couldn't see anything, but he could hear voices.

"Where is it?"

"Are you sure about this?"

"What makes you think they'd be there?"

"We have to find out."

"Don't worry. They have returned."

"And they have brought some from the past with them."

Blazekit didn't know how, but he knew that these voices weren't StarClan voices. He somehow knew that these were the voices of _living_ cats. And these cats were going to the lake. What truly confused him was _"And they have brought some from the past with them."_ What did that mean?

The sky brightened and Blazekit found himself in a field. He was facing a simply beautiful silver she-cat.

"H-hi," he stammered. "I'm Blazekit."

The silver she-cat has shining blue eyes, so he knew she wasn't Featherkit. He also knew that the cat was his age.

She purred, "I'm Smokekit." Her eyes darkened, "And I have just seen something terrible."

Instantly, Blazekit thought of the scene before he had come across Smokekit. "Was it voices of cats coming to the lake?" He asked.

Smokekit stared at him. "Yes, it was. Have seen the same thing?"

Blazekit nodded. "It can only mean trouble for the Clans. Are you among them?"

Smokekit nodded. "I am. Perhaps we could see each other again?"

Blazekit happily nodded. He couldn't wait to see this cat again. She was simply beautiful. He could feel himself falling for her, but didn't know what could come of it.

Smokekit purred. "I guess we will. But we must return to our own Clan, now. We could discuss our dreams another time. At the moment we must awaken."

Her words faded as everything turned to black.


	3. Chapter 3: Smokekit

Chapter 3: Smokekit

Smokekit woke up in yawned. _That was a strange dream,_ she thought. But that golden tom with that blazing flame colored streak and sparkling green eyes amazed her. _His name suits him._ She couldn't admit that she was falling for him, but why shouldn't she? She could play with Blazekit in her dreams, as Smokekit was the only kit in ShadowClan, and there was no one else to play with.

"Smokekit, are you okay? You were mewling in your sleep again." Her mother, Shrewfoot, asked.

Smokekit was the only survivor of her litter, the daughter of Shrewfoot and Scorchfur. Smokekit had been having the strange dreams of the whispers of cats on their way to the lake for a while know, thought she had only just met Blazekit last night. "Absolutely. I'm fine." She reassured her mother. Sometimes Shrewfoot could be really worrisome.

"What's all this talk about strange dreams?" Her father, Scorchfur, asked as he entered the den. "If something's wrong, then you should go see Littlecloud."

"I'm fine! Could I please go outside, now?" Smokekit stated.

Shrewfoot and Scorchfur looked at each other. Shrewfoot sighed, "Fine, just be careful. And remember not to leave the camp!" She yowled the last part as Smokekit was already scampering outside.

"Hey, Smokekit!" Called a familiar voice. Smokekit turned her head to see a dust colored apprentice.

"Hello, Branchpaw. How's it like being a medicine cat?" She asked her friend. Branchpaw had only just been made an apprentice a moon ago, and before that the two were close friends.

"Exhausting," he exclaimed. "I have to do the entire herb collecting because Littlecloud is too old to do it. I really hope that I can finish my training before he dies. And I don't think I'll ever get the smell of herbs out of my nose."

"You shouldn't talk like that about Littlecloud; he has the experience to match his years. You should be grateful that he has more to teach you."

"Yea, I suppose. But still, it is exhausting."

Smokekit nodded as Branchpaw padded away to do whatever exhausting activities that Littlecloud had planned. She wondered if she should tell her friend about the dreams, but decided to wait until he was farther into his training.

Smokekit padded to the middle of camp and sat down. She was waiting for the dawn patrol to return.

Suddenly, there was rustling in the bushes. _The dawn patrol's back,_ she thought as Rowanclaw, Pinenose, and Owlclaw entered the camp. They seemed to have an atmosphere of happiness around them. Smokekit thought, _Good, the Clans are at peace. That battle with the Dark Forest must've brought everyone closer together._

Smokekit spotted a swishing tabby tail from behind the apprentices' den. She silently crept forward, than she leapt from a tail length away. Neetlepaw let out a yowl of surprise when Smokekit landed on his tail. He turned around and purred with amusement when he saw Smokekit.

"Bored, are you, Smokekit?" He asked. "If you want, I can show you how you do a hunting crouch."

"Yes, please! It would put me ahead in my training. And it would also give me something to do." She mewed, excited.

Neetlepaw purred. He would be a warrior soon, and he loved teaching new moves to younger apprentices and kits. He silently hoped that he would be a warrior in time to get Smokekit as his apprentice.

The two padded out into the middle of camp. "Okay, show me your crouch," Neetlepaw ordered.

Smokekit crouched into a near perfect hunter's crouch, obviously Scorchfur had taught it to her before. "Like this?" She asked.

"Close, that's almost perfect, actually. Make sure that your tail isn't touching the ground, but is low enough that it doesn't disturb anything above you. And try to balance you weight more; this would make your paw steps lighter. Put a little more weight in you hunches to get the farthest leap." Neetlepaw explained to Smokekit step by step until she could do the crouch better than he could.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather to hear my words."

"What's that about?" Smokekit asked.

Neetlepaw purred, "I think that's my warrior ceremony!"

"Neetlepaw, Beachpaw, step forward."

Neetlepaw nodded to Smokekit as we went to stand next to his brother.

"Smokefoot, is Neetlepaw ready to join us as a warrior?" Blackstar asked the mentor.

Smokefoot replied, "Far beyond ready, Blackstar."

Blackstar nodded, "And, Tigerheart, is Beachpaw ready?"

The young warrior responded, "He is."

"Then I ask StarClan to look down on these apprentices, for they have learned the ways of your noble code. Neetlepaw, Beachpaw, do you promise to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

The two apprentices responded in unison. "I do."

"Then I grant you your warrior names. Neetlepaw, you shall join us as Neetletail, we honor your hunting skill and your willingness to teach. Beachpaw, you shall join us as Beachpelt, we honor your courage and you skill in battle." Blackstar rested his muzzle on the head of each warrior, and they both individually gave him a respected lick to the shoulder.

"Neetletail, Beachpelt! Neetletail, Beachpelt!" The Clan cheered, Smokekit was cheering as loud as she could.

Neetletail bounded over to Smokekit. "Now you will be able to be my mentor!" She exclaimed.

Neetletail purred, "Hopefully, but I still need to prove myself."

Smokekit cocked her head. "What is there more to prove? Being a great mentor was one of the reasons why you became a warrior!"

Neetletail purred. "We'll see, but there are no promises."

Smokekit nodded, "Never any guarantees."

He stared are Smokekit. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing, Neetletail, just that you can't be absolutely certain of anything. Nothing is promised to you." She responded.

Neetletail nodded. "Well, why don't you get some freshkill and go to your nest? I need to start my vigil." He commented when he saw the sun begin to dip beyond the horizon.

Smokekit scampered of and grabbed a juicy frog to share with Shrewfoot. After she had eaten her fill, she drifted off to sleep.

_I hope I get to see Blazekit tonight!_ She thought. She was greeted by the usual dreams before she entered the field and saw Blazekit waiting.

The two kits raced around together until they were so tired they curled up in the field together and fell asleep in their dream world.

_Blazekit's great fun!_ Smokekit thought as she drifted off. _I wonder what Clan he is in. I can't wait until we are apprentices!_


	4. Chapter 4: Beetlepaw

Chapter 4: Beetlepaw

**A/N I just want to say a special thanks to BrightSun03 an for reviewing and following! Great job on your story, too, BrightSun03. I'm sorry about all the errors; I'll try to be better about them!**

Today was finally the day when he would become apprenticed.

The Clan had been mostly avoiding him, they were unsure as how to treat the young black kit. The did not realize that they shouldn't treat him any different from normal. However, Fernkit would always tease him, saying that he'd never be a warrior, that he was as useless as a beetle, all of those. Nightkit stuck up for him, and told him that he should ignore their sister, and the two did.

Beetlekit and Nightkit were playing moss ball together when Fernkit shoved him to the side then caught it.

She then shouted, "Over here, Nightkit! It's no fun playing with _him_, let's play over here." She then tossed it back to Nightkit, who ignored her.

"Here you go, Beetlekit." He said when he shoved it to his brother.

"Have you got cobwebs in your ears, or are you just blind?" Fernkit yowled. "I said over here!" Recently, she has been acting as if everyone should worship her because she exposed Beetlekit's inability to smell.

Nightkit rolled his eyes and yowled back, "I am playing with Beetlekit! You can't just come over and shove him out of the way and expect me to play with you instead!"

"Why should you play with him? He is just a worthless waste of freshkill." Fernkit scoffed, smug, as usual.

"And who said you were worth any freshkill? Last I checked I had the best hearing, and the best hunting crouch; while Nightkit was the best with battle moves." Beetlekit defended himself.

Fernkit hissed and Beetlekit than ran to the nearest warrior, who happened to be Robinwing. "Beetlekit is insulting me!" She cried. "Can you believe it? _He_ is insulting _me_? The nerve! He was being mean as usual, it's not my fault he can't smell anything. Why take it out on his only sister?" Fernkit said in her smug innocent voice.

This cause Robinwing to scowl at Fernkit, him having seen everything. Fernkit cast Beetlekit a spoiled look, thinking that Robinwing was scowling at him. Robinwing then went over to talk with Mistystar about Fernkit.

"Hah! See? Another warrior going to tell Mistystar that you don't deserve to become an apprentice." Fernkit trotted over.

Nightkit and Beetlekit glanced at each other then rolled their eyes. "I think you should check again, Fernkit," Beetlekit said, "Robinwing is just telling Mistystar how spoiled you are acting – again." Fernkit had been doing this a lot, lying to a warrior that Beetlekit was being mean when it was actually her who was doing to insulting. This almost always resulted in the warrior going to tell Mistystar, and Fernkit believing that they were on her side.

"There you do it again. Will I have to tell yet _another_ warrior of how you are acting?" She scoffed.

Beetlekit mewed in a sarcastically scared voice, "Oh no! Not _another_ warrior! What will happen next? Oh, am I to be punished _again_?" He rolled his eyes.

Fernkit smirked at this, not necessarily realizing that Beetlekit was faking his fear. "Now that's better. You should be careful. You don't what me to slip something important that may through your chances of becoming a warrior off even more." Fernkit believe that she knew every one of Beetlekit's secrets, but she didn't know anything. For moons, Beetlekit had been having strange dreams of the voices of cats we was absolutely sure were on their way to the lake. He was also sure they meant trouble. He had only shared these dreams with Nightkit.

"All cats old enough to fish, gather to hear my words!" At Mistystar's call, the three kits raced over the where they should stand for their apprentice ceremony.

"These three kits have reached that age of six moons. StarClan, I ask you to look down on all of them as they undertake their journey to become a warrior. Mintfur, you have proved yourself a noble warrior many times, I hope you teach respect to Fernpaw." The warrior nodded and touched noses to his apprentice. "Pebblefoot, you are a strong warrior and have taught Rushheart well, I believe you are worthy to teach Nightpaw, as he is a worthy apprentice of you." The two then touched noses, the same as Fernpaw and Mintfur. "Grasspelt. You are very skilled. Now, just because he may not be able to smell does not mean that Beetlepaw cannot hunt. He has already demonstrated his ability to learn, and his wonderful hearing. You two shall match each other well." Beetlepaw happily touched noses with his mentor. He was happy to see Fernpaw's scowl as she praised Beetlepaw and did the opposite for her.

"Fernpaw, Nightpaw, Beetlepaw! Fernpaw, Nightpaw, Beetlepaw!" The Clan cheered for the new apprentices.

"Now, go pick out a nest in the apprentices' den. We shall tour the territory tomorrow." Grasspelt said.

Beetlepaw nodded and scampered off with Nightpaw, Fernpaw not to far behind. The brothers chose a warm place at the back of the den together.

"Hey, Beetlepaw! That's _my_ spot."

"I got here first."

"Ugh, Nightpaw, aren't you afraid you'd get fleas from _that_?"

"Fernpaw, we've been sharing a nest all our lives. Beetlepaw does not have fleas." Nightpaw remarked as the three fell asleep, Fernpaw on the opposite side of the den.

Beetlepaw awoke into the usual dream. This wasn't one of his usual dreams, he knew. This dream showed the vague shadows of cats crossing the mountains. Fearfully, Beetlepaw knew that the cats were getting closer. The voices were also cleared. Beetlepaw realized that the closer the cats got to the lake, the clearer the dream would become.

Beetlepaw saw the scene shift and found himself in a clearing by a river. A brown tom sat in front of him.

"Greetings, young Beetlepaw, I am Mudfur." The StarClan medicine cat explained.

"You were once the RiverClan medicine cat?" Beetlepaw asked. When Mudfur nodded, Beetlepaw continued. "Can you explain my dream? I have been having it for moons!"

Mudfur sighed. "They are angered by a broken promise. Some don't even care about the promise; those just come to harm the Clans." Beetlepaw bristled at this. "You have great power, young Beetlepaw, have you noticed your lack of smell has sharpened your hearing? You shall be a fine warrior."

"So? How am I supposed to same my Clan? All of the Clans?" Beetlepaw asked.

"Do not worry, you shall not be alone. There are others who remember. And another group of cats on their way."

The scene shifted again to the mountains, but to a different set of cats in a different location, closer or farther to the lake. Then everything began to fade. "Wait! What do you mean by others who remember?" Beetlepaw called to the darkness.

"Wake up, Beetlepaw! Our mentors are taking us to explore the territory." Nightpaw mewed happily. He then saw Beetlepaw's worried expression and asked, "What happened? Another dream?"

Beetlepaw whispered, "I'll tell you later."

Nightpaw nodded and the two brothers went out to meet their mentors.

They heard Mintfur calling, "Fernpaw! Wake up already, what are you a dormouse?"

The two exited the den to the clearing. "I don't want to get up so early! You should let me sleep in." Fernpaw complained.

"Alright, then I won't have you do a _tough_ job until you fully wake up." Mintfur responded, annoyed.

Fernpaw smirked. "Good, and while you're at it, I will also need free time to do _my own_ training."

Mintfur bristled at Fernpaw and lead her away, most likely to clean out the dens, as they were headed towards the elders' den.

The Nightpaw and Beetlepaw snickered, while Grasspelt exclaimed, "Mintfur has her paws fur. I hope Fernpaw learns quickly."

The mentors and apprentices then headed out into the territory. They soon came across a large mass of water.

Grasspelt was the one who spoke. "This is –"

"The lake! I remember Pouncetail talking about this!" Nightpaw interrupted.

Pebblefoot shared a glance with Grasspelt. "Well, I guess we don't have to tour the territories, as you already know it." He teased.

"No! No! We still need to see all of it. Please continue." The two apprentices exclaimed.

Pebblefoot purred. "Well, then maybe if you're quiet, you might learn something."

They began walking until they reached the thunderpath.

Grasspelt was the one to tell them about it, again. "This is the border with ShadowClan. Currently, all the Clans are at peace, friendly, even, ever since the Great Battle."

Beetlepaw and Nightpaw looked on in awe as they followed their mentors through the territory, each explaining the different landmarks when they came to the WindClan border.

A cat called, "Hello there!" And the patrol looked up to see four cats streaming towards the border.

"The dark tabby tom with amber eyes is Leaftail, while the gray tome with the two dark paws is

Emberfoot." Pebblefoot explained. "While believe those are their apprentices.

The WindClan cats stopped at the border, seemingly unfazed by the run.

"Greetings, Grasspelt. It is good to see that RiverClan is doing well. I assume these two are new apprentices, that this would be their first time out of camp." Leaftail said as he peered down at Beetlepaw and Nightpaw.

"Indeed they are." Grasspelt replied. "This is Nightpaw," he pointed to Nightpaw, "and Beetlepaw," he introduced Beetlepaw.

Emberfoot nodded. "These are Eaglepaw and Harepaw." He said as he pointed to a light brown tom with white paw and yellow eyes, then a light brown tom with golden eyes and a short, white tail.

Eaglepaw stared at Beetlepaw. "Your eyes are weird."

Nightpaw hissed. "Well, maybe you are weird!"

Eaglepaw glared at Nightpaw. "No! RiverClan is weird."

"WindClan is weird."

"WindClan is better!"

"No, RiverClan!"

"WindClan!"

"RiverClan!"

"WindClan!"

"RiverClan!"

Beetlepaw and Harepaw both rolled their eyes at their quarreling brothers. "Ugh, Eaglepaw is always like this!"

"I know right? Nightpaw and his pride." Beetlepaw responded before finding himself staring worriedly toward the mountains.

"You worried about the rogues, too?"

Beetlepaw blinked at Harepaw. "What?" He whispered.

Harepaw glanced at the mentors and the arguing apprentices before leaning closer and whispering, "Don't worry, I've been getting those dreams, too. Meet me here at moonhigh to discuss them." He then stepped back and acted like he just hadn't discussed something that was threatening the Clans.

"Would you two knock it off?" Pebblefoot exclaimed. "Seriously, haven't we determined that they are both better? After all, if they weren't then they wouldn't be here."

Beetlepaw and Nightpaw blinked, and then they stepped away from each other.

"Well, it was good to exchange greetings, see you around," Emberfoot mewed to the patrol before continuing on. With the RiverClan patrol padding back to their camp, as well.

When they had entered camp, they were met by the sight Mintfur and Fernpaw with fur puffed out with anger. They were snarling at each other.

"How _dare_ you make me clean the elders' bedding!"

"You needed to learn respect!"

"I have do know respect! I respect only my clanmates who _deserve_ it. You have no right to make me clear the elders' bedding! _You_ should be the one doing it."

"I'm your mentor!"

"So? Do you have any idea who _I_ am? I deserve to have the tour of the territory _before_ that worthless Beetlepaw!"

"You shall not leave this camp until you learn to respect you clanmates."

"I _do_ respect them! Beetlepaw doesn't deserve it!"

"Hey! Hey! Let's calm down, okay?" Pebblefoot interrupted. "It's getting late. How about we all get something to eat and go to our dens. Tomorrow is a new day, right?"

The mentor and apprentice shot one final glare at each other before each grabbing their own fish from the freshkill pile and going to opposite sides of the clearing.

Pebblefoot sighed. "Why don't you two get something to eat, as well? Then you should go to your dens. We will be hunting tomorrow."

The brothers nodded and took a trout to share. They began eating the fish outside the entrance to the apprentices' den.

"So, what was different about this dream?" Nightpaw asked quietly.

Beetlepaw glanced around. "Not now," he hissed. "At moonhigh, follow me out of camp where we can talk.

Nightpaw nodded and they finished their prey before getting some sleep before moonhigh.


	5. Chapter 5: Harepaw

Chapter5: Harepaw

Harepaw waited by the border where he had met Beetlepaw earlier that day. He believed that he would come. Why shouldn't he? If Beetlepaw _was_ having the same strange dreams as Harepaw, then he would certainly come to discuss them. Wouldn't he?

Harepaw sighed. _What is taking him so long? Doesn't he realize how hard it was for me to come?_

Harepaw thought back to when he had returned to camp with his patrol.

***Earlier***

"Alright, you two." Leaftail said. "Go ahead and grab some freshkill then meet back here."

The brother each grabbed a rabbit. One was to share between themselves, while the other was for their mentors.

Emberfoot started. "Now, today was a great day to explore the territory. How was it?"

"It was great!" Eaglepaw exclaimed, his mouth full of rabbit. "I really showed the RiverClan apprentice, Nightpaw!"

"That's not how I remember it." Harepaw purred.

Eaglepaw glared at him. Ever since they were kits Eaglepaw was the prideful, boastful one and Harepaw was the smart, stealthy one. They made a great team. They even snuck out of camp once, but they hadn't made it very far. Eaglepaw's chattering was what altered the warrior in camp as to where they were. It was still fun, though.

Even though the brothers had been known to get into trouble for stunts like that, everyone knew that they were good cats who would give anything for WindClan. Sometimes, like today, they had even pulled stunts _for_ WindClan.

"Okay," Leaftail said, "we are giving you a choice, just this once."

At this, both Eaglepaw and Harepaw perked their ears.

"You two can clean the elders' bedding tonight, and spend tomorrow as a full day of hunting…"

Emberfoot picked up from where Leaftail left off. "Or you can go to your nests and do the bedding tomorrow, only spending half the day hunting."

Eaglepaw and Harepaw looked at each other. They both wanted to blaze through their apprenticeship, and their mentors knew it. The both thought the same thing, _We can manage tonight. We need to perfect out hunting._

They then gave their mentors a look of "do you really have to ask?" This caused both warriors to purr in amusement.

"Okay, but hurry up." Leaftail yowled as the two raced off.

The brothers normally had a routine for this thing. Harepaw gathered the moss, while Eaglepaw threw out the old. This caused them to be done in half the time of a normal apprentice, and they were both settled into their nest when the sun began to set.

Eaglepaw yawned. "Wanna perfect our routine hunting tomorrow?"

Their routine hunting is where they scared multiple rabbits and herd them into the claws of multiple waiting cats. This usually worked for large hunting patrol in Greenleaf when the rabbits grazed in packs.

"Sure," Harepaw responded, drifting off into a short nap – he would have to be awake to meet Beetlepaw at moonhigh.

Eaglepaw nodded and his breathing deepened as he fell asleep.

Harepaw closed his eyes, and what felt like heartbeats later opened them to see that it was nearly moonhigh. _Better get going, don't want to be late,_ he thought. Even though he had only slept for a couple of hours, he was well rested and crept out of the den.

"Hello, Harepaw. Shouldn't you be in your nest?" Boulderfur called. He was on watch that night.

Harepaw shook his head. "To restless to sleep, I'm going to take a walk."

The large, pale gray tom nodded. "Don't stay out too late. And don't get into any trouble." He paused before adding, "Although, I know you two only get into trouble when you are with each other." Boulderfur chuckled. The brother might be a paw full together, but apart they weren't much trouble. Even though they worked best as a team, so their mentors kept them together.

Harepaw purred. "Don't worry, Eaglepaw is still snoring as deeply as when he was a kit. He won't miss me."

Harepaw started walking out of camp, towards the center of the territory as to divert suspicion. When the camp was out of sight, he rolled in a patch of tall grass and started running off towards the border. He hoped that his fast speed and the scent of the grass would prevent anyone from thinking he snuck out to go to RiverClan.

***Present Time***

Harepaw sighed. When was he getting here? It was past moonhigh, but there was still a ways to go before dawn. Every moment counted.

There were noised on the RiverClan side of the border accompanied by pawsteps and voices. Harepaw bristled. What this a night patrol?

But no, it proves to be just the two apprentices, Beetlepaw and Nightpaw. _Wait what is _Nightpaw_ doing here? This was just with Beetlepaw to discuss the dreams!_

When they stepped out to the bordered, their black pelts blended in so well, that even if you were a foxlength away, you would have to know that they were there to see them. Although, Nightpaw's eyes stood out brighter than the sun would compared to the night sky, while Beetlepaw's matched the darkness better than his pelt.

Harepaw bristled. "Why did you bring your brother? This is only about our dreams!" He hissed.

Nightpaw stared at him. "You told him about your dreams? When? During the patrol today?" He asked Beetlepaw.

Beetlepaw sighed. "Harepaw, Nightpaw is in this too, I've told him about the dreams, and he has been helping me through them." This earned a sarcastic snort from Harepaw. Beetlepaw guessed that he had kept his dreams to himself. "Nightpaw, yes during the patrol today. He saw me staring at the mountains and knew that I was having the same dreams as him."

"Well, you still haven't told me what is new about them." Commented Nightpaw.

Harepaw stared at Beetlepaw. "What happened? Is something different than the voices of the cats coming to the lake?"

"Yes, they are getting closer. They are crossing the mountains."

Harepaw gasped. "They are that close?"

Beetlepaw nodded. "Mudfur has told me about other with the same dreams in other Clans, you are the one for WindClan and we should find the ones for ShadowClan and ThunderClan."

Harepaw nodded. "Make sure you go to the gathering coming up. I believe that the other cats would be knew apprentices, same as us."

Beetlepaw stated. "There is more to my dream. There is another group of cats crossing the mountains that would help the Clans. And Mudfur said that this has something to do with remembering what happened?"

Harepaw frowned as he thought what this could mean. ""Remember what happened at the Dawn." That is what Barkface told me."

Nightpaw cut in. "Maybe each of you has a piece of the story? You each know what had happened at different points, so at the next gathering you should share it with the others."

Harepaw rolled his eyes. "Sure. Just tell me who the others are and we'll work it out."

Nightpaw frowned. "Well, maybe you could ask your StarClan guides to tell you."

Beetlepaw shook his head. "They speak in riddles. Unless they would somehow be different from the rest of their clanmates in some way, there would be no way to tell at the next gathering."

Harepaw thought. "Well, maybe they have already met? Like us? We could look for new ShadowClan and ThunderClan apprentices who know each other."

Beetlepaw stared at the ground. "I don't think I could be of much help with that part."

"Why?" Harepaw asked.

Nightpaw stood in front of his brother. "Beetlepaw has the sharpest hearing in the Clan. He can head the swish of one individual reed separated from the roar of the river." He hesitated, as if debating to tell Harepaw the rest. "But that is because he cannot smell; his ears make up for his nose. He would not be able to tell two Clans apart."

Harepaw flattened his ears. He had heard of deaf, mute, and blind cats, but never any that couldn't smell. "Oh."

Beetlepaw look to the setting moon. "We should be heading back now. I think we can wait until the next gathering to see each other, it's less than a quartermoon away."

Harepaw nodded before heading back to his own camp. Careful to sneak his was into the den and pretend he had been there all along.


	6. Chapter 6: Blazepaw

Chapter6: Blazepaw

Blazepaw was excited to go to his first gathering. He had been apprenticed for nearly a quarter moon. His dreams had gotten more vivid, which scared him, but he still met Smokekit – now Smokepaw – in the field.

"Aw, no fair! How come we can't go?"

The voice of Featherkit snapped him out of his thoughts. Featherkit and Stormkit was a moon younger than Blazepaw and Stonepaw, so they were still kits.

"Because you still over a half moon to go until you're apprenticed." Stonepaw answered.

"It's not fair. We are just as good as you. And it was my idea to sneak out of camp!" Stormkit complained, rather loudly.

"Shhh! Do want us to get into trouble? Remember we are still kits, so we can get into trouble for being out of camp." Featherkit hushed her brother.

Blazepaw purred. "Don't worry; I'll make sure that you're the first to know of what happened once we come home!"

Featherkit seemed to brighten at this and wished the brothers luck as the patrol left for the gathering.

There was no trouble crossing WindClan and RiverClan territory, and before long the full moon was making the island glow.

"Now, the log can be quiet slippery, so take your time crossing it." Toadstep said.

Stonepaw had been apprenticed to Toadstep, while Blazepaw had been apprenticed to Ivypool. Both got along fine with their apprentices.

"But don't take too long," Seedpaw, an older apprentice, hissed.

Blazepaw rolled his eyes. "Don't worry; we don't want to miss our first gathering."

Seedpaw glared at Blazepaw, and quickly crossed the fallen tree without incident.

Once on the island, Blazepaw look around. There were so many cats! The scents were overwhelming. RiverClan and WindClan had already arrived, but ShadowClan was on their way. Blazepaw soon found his targets; a black RiverClan apprentice with black eyes – which kind of troubled Blazepaw – and a WindClan apprentice with light brown fur, a short white tail, and golden eyes. Next to the two was another black RiverClan apprentice with yellow eyes, he guessed that was the first apprentice's brother. Yellowfang had told him in a dream last night to find the two; he also guessed he was supposed to find Smokepaw, as well.

Blazepaw walked over to them. "Hello," he dipped his head in greeting.

They WindClan tom nodded. "I am Harepaw. Barkface told me to find the golden ThunderClan apprentice with the flaming streak. It is plenty obvious who he meant."

Blazepaw blinked. So these were the cats Yellowfang had told him to find! He glanced nervously and the second RiverClan apprentice.

"Don't worry," the black eyed RiverClan apprentice said, "I am Beetlepaw, and this is my brother, Nightpaw. I've told him about the dreams."

Blazepaw nodded, just then ShadowClan arrived at the island. "Is Smokepaw here?" He asked himself.

"Who's Smokepaw?" Harepaw wondered.

"She's the one from ShadowClan, I've met her before." Blazepaw replied.

Harepaw nodded, he and Beetlepaw had also met before so it was no surprise.

"There she is!" Blazepaw called and beckoned a silver ShadowClan apprentice with blue eyes over.

"Blazepaw! It's so good to finally see you face to face." Smokepaw said as she bounded over.

Harepaw gave him a confused look. "We've met in the dreams. We've both had those of the cats coming to the lake." He quickly said.

It was Beetlepaw who spoke next. "Great, now that we are all here, have the dreams been any different?"

"Yes," Blazepaw and Smokepaw both replied. The looked at each other, and Smokepaw gestured for Blazepaw to speak.

Blazepaw cleared his throat. "They have gotten more vivid. The cats are coming closer."

"And there is another group of cats coming." Smokepaw cut in.

Beetlepaw nodded. "That second group is on our side."

Just then, Bramblestar yowled for the gathering to begin.

"ThunderClan is doing great! The prey is certainly running this newleaf, and we have two new apprentices; Stonepaw and Blazepaw." The ThunderClan leader briefly shouted.

Blazepaw puffed out his chest with pride, glad his new friends were chanting his name along with the other clans.

Onestar stepped up to speak next. "WindClan is also well on its paws. We also have two new apprentices, who are excellent in everything they do; Eaglepaw and Harepaw!"

Blazepaw chanted as loud as he could for his friend.

Blackstar purred. "All is well in ShadowClan. We also have a new apprentice – Smokepaw."

Blazepaw chanted at he did with Harepaw.

Mistystar was the last to speak. "The rivers are swarming with fish. RiverClan has _three_ new apprentices; Nightpaw, Fernpaw, and Beetlepaw."

Blazepaw cheered for the young RiverClan apprentice. The four leaders stepped down from the tree and let their clans share tongues.

There was snickering from behind Blazepaw. "Well, well. Looks like you actually managed to find some friends, huh, Beetlepaw?" Blazepaw turned around to see a cream RiverClan apprentice with silver patches.

Beetlepaw rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, where is you simply _large_ group of followers, Fernpaw?"

"They are off to gossip, they didn't want to come anywhere near you, not even for me." Fernpaw scoffed.

Harepaw interrupted. "Yes, and I'm sure that if they were _real_ they would do anything for you."

Fernpaw gasped. "Are you insulting me? How dare you! RiverClan is by _far_ the best Clan, and you should be begging that we take pity on your weak and defenseless Clan."

"Defenseless? _Weak?_ Says you! I bet you haven't even caught the smallest trout, you're big mouth always scares them away.

Nightpaw snorted. It was the first time Blazepaw heard him speak. "You've got that right, Harepaw. She's barely toured the territory, she's so far behind! Not to mention her extreme fear of the water."

"Well, the water just keeps on flowing; it wants to sweep me away!" Fernpaw retorted.

Smokepaw rolled her eyes. "Yes, and I'm sure that you just expect it to produce all the fish to you, and slow for _you_."

Fernpaw smirked, "Yes, indeed that's what's _supposed_ to happen. But Beetlepaw has been in it, he's certainly contaminated that river. Yuck."

"You sure it wasn't _you_ who contaminated the river?" Harepaw replied.

"Oh, how rude!" Fernpaw spat before storming off.

The apprentices snickered. "She's probably the most hated in the Clan, though she thinks everyone should worship her." Nightpaw laughed.

"Oh, I hadn't noticed." Harepaw mewed sarcastically.

"Well, it looks as if it's time to go." Blazepaw commented. "Smokepaw, meet by the border at moonhigh tomorrow?" He asked.

"Sure, sounds great! Considering how long it has been since I've last seen you." She replied.

"Yea, same with us, Beetlepaw?" That was Harepaw who asked. "Same place with Nightpaw, same night?"

"Sure, sound great." Beetlepaw answered.

"Maybe we could catch up with each other on a border patrol sometime?" Blazepaw asked the other apprentices.

"Sure, I'll try and get on a patrol for the ThunderClan border." Said Harepaw, as they all walked away to their own Clan.

Once, they were back at camp, Featherkit ran out of the nursery.

"How was it?" She asked.

Smokepaw purred. "I'll tell them about the gathering, Blazepaw. You look like you are going to fall asleep at any moment."

"Thanks." Blazepaw replied. He was very tired after discussing the dreams with the other apprentices. Blazepaw went and collapsed in his nest. He was glad the dreams spared him that night.


	7. Chapter 7: Smokepaw

Chapter7: Smokepaw

Smokepaw purred once she saw that Blazepaw had arrived right on time.

"Any trouble getting here?" She asked.

"Not really. It would be worth it, anyway." The golden apprentice responded. He green eyes were glowing.

"I didn't see you in the field last night." Smokepaw mentioned.

"Yes. It is because I was spared of the dreams." Blazepaw responded.

"Oh."

"But, I'm well rested, now." Blazepaw quickly said.

Smokepaw purred and twined her tail with Blazepaw's. Blazepaw purred, as well.

"We must find some way to stop those rogues once they get here." He said.

Smokepaw nodded. She was disturbed by what they might do for revenge.

"Come with me. There is something I must show you." Blazepaw said as he began to walk away. Smokepaw quickly followed him. Before long, the two had arrived at an entrance to a tunnel. "This is a tunnel that connects to the systems that runs under WindClan and ThunderClan's territory. I-I think that the ancient cats that were here before us used them for their warrior assessments."

Smokepaw nodded. "If the softpaw survived, they became a sharpclaw. If they didn't, their spirit was forced to walk the tunnels until they faded from memory." She shivered. "There is one, named Fallen Leaves, who fought in the Great Battle. I wonder if he is still down there."

"Let's find out." Blazepaw began walking into the darkness.

"Wait…!" Smokepaw started, but Blazepaw was already gone. She sighed and followed him. Smokepaw gasped when she arrived in the cave. There was an underground river flowing through it, and a hole in the roof revealed the nearly full moon.

Blazepaw, who was sitting in the middle of the room waiting for Smokepaw, purred. "Isn't if beautiful?" He asked.

Smokepaw nodded. "This is amazing! Wait, I think this is the home of that cat… what's his name?"

Blazepaw shivered. He turned his head to look at the ledge on the far side of the cave. "I'm not sure, but I know who you're talking about. I have this feeling that he – or someone – is watching us."

"Yea, I know what you mean. Hey, wanna go and try to find Fallen Leaves?" Smokepaw asked.

"You wanted to find me?"

Smokepaw and Blazepaw both jumped. Behind them was a faded white cat with ginger patches. His eyes glistened with loneliness.

Blazepaw was the first to snap out of his trance. "Oh, y-yes. Um, we were just exploring. Sorry to disturb you."

"Oh, no. It is fine. Always good to get some company." Fallen Leaves settled down on the cold stone, gesturing for the apprentices to do the same. "As seeing that you know me, and Rock somewhat, might I ask who you are?"

"I am Blazepaw. I am the son of Lionblaze and Cinderheart." Blazepaw stated proudly.

Fallen Leaves nodded. "Your father might also be known by a different name."

"Isn't he Lion's Roar? Among the first litter to be born in the mountains?" Smokepaw asked.

Fallen Leaves stared at her. "How did you know that?"

"I-I don't know," Smokepaw replied.

Blazepaw cut in, "Aren't the cats that were originally from the lake – and somehow maintained a border with badgers – the ancestors of the Tribe of Rushing Water?"

Fallen Leaves looked from one cat to the other. "You two know more than you are supposed to."

Blazepaw and Smokepaw looked at the ground. "Is that bad?" Smokepaw asked.

Fallen Leaves sighed. "I'm not sure. Just be careful as to what you reveal. Now, dawn is approaching. You two should get back to your Clans."

The two nodded and scampered up the tunnel they had come from.

"Same time tomorrow?" Blazepaw asked.

Smokepaw shook her head. "What good would happen if we snuck out every night? There would be nothing more to share – we could always meet in our dreams."

"Yes, but I like to see you when I'm awake." Blazepaw pressured.

Smokepaw purred. "Alright, but not necessarily every night. We'd be too tired to train, and our clanmates might get suspicious. Meet the night after tomorrow."

Blazepaw nodded and dashed back to his camp, leaving Smokepaw to find her own way to the border.

Smokepaw carefully crept into her nest back at camp. The sun wouldn't fully rise for at least another hour. She shut her eyes to get why little sleep she could.

"Smokepaw! Wake up, we are going hunting." Her mentor, Pinenose, called.

Even though Neetletail didn't get to mentor Smokepaw himself, Pinenose still included him whenever the duo when training. This would help him prepare for when he would soon get his own apprentice.

"Coming!" Smokepaw quickly raced out of the empty aprentices' den, the others were already out on patrol.

Neetletail and Pinenose were both waiting out in the clearing. Neetletail purred when he saw Smokepaw's messy fur. "Have you been out all night?" He asked.

"Couldn't sleep." Smokepaw replied.

"Alright, we will be hunting near the RiverClan border. And while we are there, we shall remark the border." Pinenose informed the group as the headed off.

Once had the border, they were met by a RiverClan border patrol. The patrol included Pebblefoot, Grasspelt, Nightpaw… and Beetlepaw.

While their mentors were exchanging greetings, Beetlepaw motioned Smokepaw over to the side.

"Anything new?" He hissed quietly.

Smokepaw shook her head. "Although, Blazepaw took me to the tunnels, we met Fallen Leaves there. He said that we knew more than we should. Did you know that Blazepaw's father is Lion's Roar?"

Beetlepaw's eyes widened. "Lion's Roar? I know that he is significant in some way… I just can't determine it. How would we know more than we should?"

"I think we have certain memories of the past. Of the time before the Clans, almost. Maybe our memories with get clearer like the dreams."

Beetlepaw's eyes darkened. "But that would mean the cats would have to come closer."

Smokepaw nodded, "Yes, but I –"

"Smokepaw! Are you going to stand there chattering like blackbirds all day, or are you going to join us?" Pinenose called.

"I've got to go." Smokepaw raced after her mentor.

When the patrol arrived back at camp, they certainly had a successful hunting trip. Pinenose was carrying two mice and a vole, Neetletail was carrying a thrush and a fat lizard, while Smokepaw caught the most. Smokepaw was carrying three mice and a frog.

"It's too back that squirrel got away. That would have fed all the elders!" Neetletail commented as they set their prey down on the freshkill pile.

"Neetletail, we've caught plenty of prey. I've sure Smokepaw feels back about missing the catch, but some you just have to learn to let go. Mistakes help you improve." Pinenose said to Neetletail and Smokepaw.

"It _was_ fairly plump." Smokepaw muttered.

"I think you've earned your fill. Go grab something from the freshkill pile and head off to your nest." Pinenose said.

Smokepaw chose Neetletail's thrush to share with Branchpaw.

"Hey, Branchpaw!" She called. "Want to share?"

Branchpaw padded over. "Sure!"

Once they had settled down, Smokepaw nervously asked, "So, uh, h-have you had any dreams? Like, did StarClan tell you of any dangers on the way to the lake?"

Branchpaw shook his head. "Nope! Why? Have you seen anything?"

Smokepaw lowered her gaze. "Um…"

Branchpaw purred. "It's okay. You can tell me anything."

Smokepaw looked into his eyes. "It's just… I fear something is coming." When she saw that Branchpaw was confused, she took a deep breath and continued. "I've been hearing these voices. Voices of cats on their way to the lake. I fear they mean trouble for the Clans."

"I'm sure it's just nightmares. How long have you been getting them?" He asked.

"Since I was a young kit."

"And you didn't tell me?" Branchpaw questioned. He sighed. "I will ask StarClan next time I go to the moonpool. It is probably nothing, but let me know if anything changes." He got up to go to his nest once they finished the thrush.

Smokepaw settled into her nest and sighed. She wasn't she if she should've told Branchpaw everything, but she didn't want to worry her friend. Smokepaw closed her eyes as she entered the dreamscape that she shared with Blazepaw. _Oh Blazepaw…_ she purred in her sleep.


	8. Chapter 8: Harepaw

Chapter8: Harepaw

A group of three rabbits were being herded across the moor by two swift footed cats. If you were to look at the pelt and eyes of these cats, you could successfully determine that they were brothers.

The rabbits ran right into the awaiting paws of Leaftail and Emberfoot. The two warriors swiftly killed the rabbits.

"Great job, you two! Your tactic works again to score several plump pieces of prey for the Clan." Emberfoot congratulated.

Leaftail nodded in agreement. "Eaglepaw and Harepaw never fail to impress."

"Great. We get it, we're awesome. Now, could be _please_ get this prey back to camp so we can continue hunting, or _at least_ go on a border patrol?" Eaglepaw asked impatiently. This caused the two warriors to purr with amusement.

"Of course," Emberfoot started, "We could always patrol the ThunderClan border. That is the best place to hunt for squirrels."

Harepaw perked his ears when he heard this. _I wonder if I'll be able to catch sigh of Blazepaw, this time!_ He thought. He had been on patrols to the ThunderClan border before, but he had yet to see the striking apprentice.

Once the group had put their prey on the freshkill pile, the headed to the shared border with ThunderClan. Harepaw was excited when he saw another patrol on the ThunderClan side of the border. The two patrols yowled a greeting, and Harepaw saw who had come from ThunderClan. The patrol was led by Sorreltail, and contained Toadstep and Ivypool with their apprentices; Stonepaw… and Blazepaw.

Harepaw nearly leapt with joy when he saw Blazepaw, but stayed calm and nodded for him to come off to the side. "Anything new?" He hissed.

Blazepaw shook his head then paused. He told Harepaw of his first meeting with Smokepaw after the gathering.

"What did that mean?" Harepaw wondered.

"I'm still trying to figure that part out. I'm going to ask Smokepaw if she thought of something next time I see her."

Harepaw nodded. "I have another meeting with Beetlepaw and Nightpaw tonight. I will tell them of what you've told me. Thank you." The two apprentices got back to their patrol just as they were heading separate ways.

Back at camp, the two brothers were given permission to get some freshkill. The refused, stating that they wanted to go hunting again. Emberfoot and Leaftail were too tired to go out on yet _another_ patrol, so their apprentices joined Sunstrike's patrol with Swallowtail and Boulderfur.

"What? Afraid you'd get behind in your training?" Boulderfur teased.

Eaglepaw purred. "We are trying to make up for lost time."

This caused Boulderfur to blink. "Lost time? What time have you lost?"

"When we were kits, all we did was made trouble, now we are _helping_ the Clan." Harepaw responded.

Boulderfur shook his head. "That's just what kits do." He murmured.

When they got to their intended hunting grounds, Sunstrike stopped the patrol. "Okay," she said, "let's split up. We'll catch more prey that way."

Eaglepaw and Harepaw looked at each other. "We have a better idea." Said Harepaw.

"Oh? And what might that be?" Sunstrike asked.

Eaglepaw replied this time. "Where me and Harepaw gather a bunch of rabbits together and herd them into your awaiting claws."

Sunstrike thought for a moment, and then she nodded. "Alright. It's worth a try, but if this doesn't work we are splitting up."

Eaglepaw told the rest of the patrol were to wait while Harepaw went scouting for rabbits. Harepaw stopped suddenly and opened his mouth to taste the air. "Smallkit! Orangekit! Lightkit!" He growled. "I can smell you! You might as well come out now."

Slowly, the three kits came out of the bush they were hiding behind. "How did you know we were there?" Smallkit asked. The brown and white she-kit was the smallest of her litter, but she was the boldest.

"Yea! Our s-scent was hidden super well by that bush." Orangekit agreed. The pale tabby was normally seen following his sister around and agreeing with anything that she said.

"See! I told you he would scent us," the last of the three, Lightkit, hissed. She was a white she-kit with light brown stripes.

"He couldn't have scented us through that! You must've made some noise to alert him." Smallkit accused her sister.

"Yea!" Orangekit hissed. "You didn't want us to sneak out in the first place."

"That's enough!" Harepaw silenced the kits. "I know this territory well. I could tell when there was something wrong with the scents."

Smallkit cocked her head. "Wow, that's amazing! I can't wait until I'm an apprentice." She sighed.

"Harepaw! Have you found those rabbits yet?" Eaglepaw's voice drifted over the hill, and he was quick to follow.

"No, but I found these three." Harepaw replied.

Eaglepaw glared at the kits. "Great, now we have to escort you back to the camp and prolong our hunting trip!"

The apprentices passed the rest of the patrol on their way back to camp, those of who decided to help bring them back. None of them were happy.

"Oh! My kits! Don't you ever sneak out like that again." Their mother, Furzepelt, exclaimed when she saw them.

"Yes, don't you _ever_ do that again." Swallowtail grumbled.

"My apologies," Furzepelt said as she ushered her kits into the nursery.

Swallowtail hissed at her flat tone. "No respect."

Sunstrike rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Swallowtail. We should go hunting while there is still daylight." She turned to the brother. "Sorry, but I'm afraid we won't have time to try out your tactic. You're fine with regular hunting, right?"

Eaglepaw bristled when she said _regular hunting_ but he still replied, "Sure."

Even with their shortened hunting trip, Harepaw and Eaglepaw still managed to catch a thrush each, while Sunstrike caught a blackbird, Swallowtail a small vole, and Boulderfur caught a squirrel and a mouse.

"Now I'm _sure_ you've earned you fill." Leaftail commented when he saw how much prey the patrol had brought in.

"You have to keep you strength up, otherwise you might fall behind." Boulderfur agreed. His last comment sent the brothers running to the freshkill pile. Boulderfur purred, "I guess they don't want to fall behind."

Eaglepaw and Harepaw quickly finished off the rabbit and retreated to their den. Harepaw tried to fall into a light sleep so that he could be up by moonhigh. There were something's he needed to discuss with Beetlepaw.


	9. Chapter 9: Beetlepaw

Chapter9: Beetlepaw

Beetlepaw tried his best to fall asleep. Smokepaw and Harepaw's words kept replaying in his mind. _We know more than we should!_ What did that mean? Beetlepaw figured he should try to remember something, and squeezed his eyes shut.

When he finally drifted off, Beetlepaw found himself in complete darkness. Suddenly, images started flashing through his mind. Images of cats in mountains, hunting and being hunted by eagles. They were traveling, and then they images started to blur.

_Slow down!_ He told the images. _I don't understand. You have to slow down. I can't see!_

The images flowed how "normal time" would be and he found himself in a battle.

_The Great Battle!_ He thought as he saw ancient and fading cats fighting, along with a badger of some sort. There was a flash of gold, and Beetlepaw decided to follow the cat.

This golden was fighting with all the strength of StarClan, it seemed, as he was covered in blood, but none of it his own. _That's Lion's Roar! Or Lionblaze, in this time. He is Blazepaw's father._ Beetlepaw suddenly realized.

"Beetlepaw, wake up!" Grasspelt hissed at him. "We are going on a hunting patrol."

Beetlepaw shakily got out of his nest. The memory of what he had seen still fresh in his mind.

"Are you alright? You were shaking in your sleep." His mentor asked.

"Fine." Beetlepaw replied.

When Beetlepaw came up to his patrol, his tail dropped. The patrol consisted of Rushheart with his apprentice, Foxpaw and Mintfur with his apprentice, Fernpaw.

"What? I have to go hunting with _him_?" Fernpaw complained.

"Yea, wouldn't a _hunting_ patrol be more successful with cats that can _scent_?" Foxpaw added. The russet tom had recently been made an apprentice, and he has been following Fernpaw around like a lost kit ever since.

Beetlepaw rolled his eyes. "Yea and wouldn't a _fishing_ patrol be more successful with cats who could _fish_ of at least _swim_." The last comment caused both Foxpaw and Fernpaw to bristle.

"You dare to insult Fernpaw? I'll shred you!" Foxpaw snarled.

Beetlepaw rolled his eyes and the smaller apprentice. "You do that," he muttered.

"Hey, we are all clanmates, aren't we?" Rushheart cut in.

"Yes, and we have other clanmates who need to be fed. So let's get fishing!" Mintfur mewed impatiently.

The patrol arrived at the bank of part of a river with overhanging stones perfect for fishing on and diving from.

"I bet I can catch the most fish!" Foxpaw boasted.

"We'll just see about that." Beetlepaw muttered.

They quickly split up to catch their own fish. Rushheart was teaching his apprentice how to patiently sit and wait for the fish to come to him, while Beetlepaw was diving and catching fish up to two at a time.

By sunhigh, the patrol had caught a fair amount of fish. Grasspelt caught two bass, Mintfur a trout, and Rushheart caught two trout. The warriors didn't catch much because they were teaching their apprentices. Fernpaw managed to somehow catch a bass, Foxpaw caught three trout, while Beetlepaw caught the most with six trout and a salmon.

"No fair," Foxpaw complained. "He cheated!"

"How could he cheat?" Grasspelt scoffed.

"He-he, uh…" It seemed the young apprentice didn't have a reason as to how Beetlepaw cheated; just that he didn't deserve to catch so much.

Beetlepaw rolled his eyes as he set his catch down on the pile.

"Nightpaw and Pebblefoot are out battle training, so Fernpaw and Foxpaw with Mintfur and Rushheart and going to come on a patrol to the WindClan border." Grasspelt informed him.

Beetlepaw sighed. Now he had to spend the rest of the day with the Clan's most annoying furballs.

"I smell WindClan!" Foxpaw yowled when they reached the border.

"Of course you smell WindClan; this _is_ their border, too." Beetlepaw scoffed.

Foxpaw snarled. "No, I mean on _our_ side of the border."

"It probably just drifted." Beetlepaw dismissed.

"How would _you_ know anything about scents?" Fernpaw sneered.

"Where is the scent?" Grasspelt interrupted.

"Over here."

Grasspelt scent where Foxpaw had pointed. "Beetlepaw's right, it's probably just a drifted scent."

Foxpaw snorted.

"Although, we should be careful. They may cross the border if there is a scent this far into our territory." Grasspelt finished.

The rest of the patrol went without incident. They didn't see any WindClan cats to challenge.

Back in camp, Beetlepaw grabbed a small trout to eat by himself. He would be meeting Smokepaw tonight. When he when into the apprentices' den for a quick nap before the meeting, he saw Nightpaw sleeping soundly. His brother looked tired, so Beetlepaw decided to go alone this night.

He silently crept through the territory, quickly reaching the ShadowClan border. Once there, he spotted Smokepaw there, waiting.

"Are you always this late?" She hissed.

"Harepaw says the same thing." Beetlepaw whispered.

"Whatever just tell me if anything is new? Nothing's new with me or Blazepaw." She said.

"Actually, there is something new." Beetlepaw replied. This caused Smokepaw to perk her ears. "I realized that if I try, I can remember certain parts of the Clans' past. I saw cats in the mountains, although the images were fast and blurry. Then it slowed down at the great battle, and I saw Lion's Roar, or Lionblaze, fighting but not getting hurt. At all." Beetlepaw reported quietly.

Smokepaw seemed to be thinking for a moment, and then responded. "I think we should try to focus our memories. I wonder what the cats in the mountains were doing."

Beetlepaw nodded and the two headed back to their camps. Beetlepaw heard rustling, and paused. He looked around with his ears perked, and sighed. This was one of the few times in his life when he wished that he actually _could_ scent, as he didn't know if the sound could be a fox or just a passing mouse. Beetlepaw sighed again and continued.

Suddenly, Beetlepaw was shoved to the ground. "Traitor," the cat hissed.

"ShadowClan spy!" said another.

There were two cats, and Beetlepaw quickly recognized the voices. "Fernpaw, Foxpaw! Get off of me! What are you talking about?"

"You know what we're talking about." Fernpaw snarled as the two roughly shoved Beetlepaw to his paws and escorted him back to camp.

Once they reached the camp, Fernpaw let out an earsplitting yowl, which successfully awakened everyone.

"Fernpaw, Foxpaw, Beetlepaw, what is the meaning of this?" Mistystar asked when she entered the clearing.

"We caught Beetlepaw spying for ShadowClan. We saw him with a she-cat, and although we couldn't hear all of what they were saying, he was definitely reporting to her." Fernpaw said to the Clan.

"Beetlepaw, is this true?" Mistystar asked, shocked. The rest of the Clan appeared to be in a state of shock also."

"N-n-no! I-it's not what you think!" Beetlepaw stuttered. "I-it's just th-that –"

"It's true!" Foxpaw interrupted. "I saw him."

Several cats looked as if they believed Fernpaw. "He has been sneaking out at night, and heading off to StarClan knows were." A couple said.

Beetlepaw had a look of pure terror. His Clan thought he was a traitor.

Mistystar shook he head. "I'm sorry, Beetlepaw, but until we get this settled, you are not to leave the camp."

Beetlepaw flattened his ears and lowered his gaze. He just wanted to disappear. Why did Fernpaw have to ruin everything? He sighed. At least Nightpaw could tell the others what happened. Where was Nightpaw, anyway?

Beetlepaw looked up to see Nightpaw staring at him. His look of terror matched Beetlepaw's, as if he was the one being accused of being a traitor. Nightpaw seemed to mouth "I'm sorry" to Beetlepaw, who nodded. There was nothing that he or Nightpaw could do at the moment.

Beetlepaw was marched to a spare den, and a warrior was put to guard it for the night. Beetlepaw decided to take this time to try to sort out his memory of try to contact the others through dreams. He fell into a restless sleep.


	10. Chapter 10: Smokey

Chapter10: Smokey

"Wake up!" A gruff voice sounded. "You lazy trainees need to get up so we can get moving."

Smokey sat up and stretched. She was among the trainees of a group that called themselves The Black Hearted Rogues. Personally, she thought it was stupid, but she had enough sense to hold her tongue.

"Yea, yea, we're up." Frost, a white she-cat with black stripes and dark blue eyes, whispered to her sister, Ice, a white she-cat with pale gray stripes and ice blue eyes. The sisters snickered.

Smokey sighed. She was the only trainees, perhaps even the only member, who didn't have kin in the group. It didn't matter much, except in this group, kin were kin.

"They always think they're _so_ funny." Hawk hissed in her ear. Hawk was a black tom with lighter tabby stripes and dark blue eyes. He was among her closest friends, the other was Sparrow. Sparrow was barely more than a kit, he was considered one less than a moon ago. Sparrow was a small black tom with gray stripes and light blue eyes. It was thought that no two of his stripes were the same color.

Smokey nodded. She was an almost pure white she-cat with turquoise eyes. Almost. Her tail steadily darkened until it was the darkest black. "Let's go hunting." She told Hawk.

Hawk nodded and quickly went over to tell Sparrow. Hawk was definitely built to run on rolling moorland, while Smokey was a swift tree climber.

Smokey went out to tell Stone, the cat who had awakened them, a big dark gray tom, about her desire to go hunting.

His stone gray eyes bore into her as he considered. "Okay, but bring _something_ back. We will be moving at sunhigh." He said.

Smokey nodded and went off when Hawk and Sparrow arrived.

"I don't know why, but I feel like I've been here before." Sparrow squeaked.

Hawk nodded. "I know what you mean. It's all blurry, like it was a long time ago."

"Of course you feel it." Smokey hissed. "This is the whole reason why we're going to the Clans in the first place!"

"But we aren't getting revenge on the Tribe." Sparrow pointed out.

"That's different." Smokey replied.

"How?" Hawk questioned.

"It- it just is!" She hissed back.

"It's because we're kin to those who left?"

"I am _not_ their kin, Hawk!" Smokey yowled.

Hawk sighed. Sometimes Smokey could be so stubborn. "Sure you are. I bet we could take down an eagle with the tactics that Jay's Wing taught the first of them."

Smokey thought for a moment. "Okay, but what would be used as bait?" She asked.

"I'll do it." Sparrow volunteered.

Hawk and Smokey both stared at Sparrow. "You sure?" Hawk asked.

"Sure, I trust you. I also trust our long ago taught skills." Sparrow replied.

Smokey snorted at his last comment. This caused Hawk to roll his eyes.

They came to a flat rock, with ledges above it perfect for leaping from. Sparrow settled down on the rock, and pretended to be injured while Smokey and Hawk hid on the ridge.

An eagle soon started gliding lazily above. It was time for Sparrow's act to start. The little cat started yowling his heart out and limping around. All of his efforts brought the eagle closer until it suddenly swooped down, its talons outstretched.

Sparrow let out a shriek of pain as he was lifted into the air. Hawk ran as fast as he could and leapt as high as he could, but he was built for chasing down snow hares, not plucking birds from the sky. Hawk fell short of the great bird.

Just when it seemed that Sparrow would be lost, Smokey jumped higher than any cat could have dreamed, and the extra weight of her landing brought her prey crashing down. Hawk hurried over, and together they killed the mighty ruler of the sky.

"You are so his kin," Hawk muttered.

"What did you say?" Smokey growled.

Hawk glared into her eyes. "I said, you are so his kin."

"I am not kin to them. Especially to _him_." Smokey snarled.

"Next time, try not to cut it so close." Sparrow said when he was free of the talons.

"There won't be a next time." His long legged companion replied. Smokey was not going to risk Sparrow's live again, just for her to get the time wrong. "This should satisfy Stone."

"I wonder if we could get Moss to let up see how the tribe is doing." Hawk said.

Smokey snorted. "You know how she is, but we could go see them anyway. We just need to stay out of sight." Moss was the second in command, and dark gray tabby she-cat with light blue eyes. Their leader was Coak, a muscular black tom with brown patches and cold, brown eyes.

Hawk nodded. "But first, let's get this huge thing back to the camp."

Smokey nodded, and together the three of them were able to get it back in time to go for their "walk".

"Aw, c'mon, Stone! We promise we'll be back in time." Hawk was trying to get Stone to let them go back out.

"Alright, fine," Stone snorted. "But if you're not back by sunhigh, then we're leavin' ya behind."

Hawk nodded and the three raced off in the direction they were sure the tribe was. The found the waterfall, and gazed with envy as cats came and went.

"We'll come back and see you soon." Smokey murmured.

As they were dashing back to their camp, Hawk and Smokey were both tackled to the ground. Sparrow skidded to a halt and hid in the shadow of a rock, watching his friends.

"Well, well, looky, Ginger! Recognize these two?" The cat that was on Hawk, and big black tom with white stripes and green eyes, asked his companion.

"Indeed I do, Goose." The she-cat that was on Smokey, she was gray with ginger patches and had amber eyes, hissed.

"Oh, h-hey, Goose," Hawk greeted, shakily. "Nice to see that you're –"

"Quiet!" Goose snarled. This caused Hawk to instantly shut his jaws. "You know, Boots would say that we couldn't kill you, but seeing as he isn't here…" Goose looked around once, "I'd say that we have the right to."

Smokey was glaring at Ginger the entire time, who glared right back. Goose and Ginger used to be apart of The Black Hearted Rogues, but when Goose's brother, Boots, turned up, Goose decided to join his group. Ginger had been raised by Goose, so she went with him. Boots was the leader of a band of farm cats who called themselves The Cats Who Remember. These cats also had memories of the past, along with connections to certain spirits, but didn't want to get revenge on the Clans for a promise as big as the one they broke. The promise about remembering their heritage. The promise about remembering them, for they were the closest kin to the ones who journeyed to The New Hunting Grounds.

Ginger and Goose were about to slice Smokey and Hawk's throats, but Smokey and Hawk shared a glance and shoved their attackers off.

"We were taught the same moves as you, Goose," Hawk yowled.

Goose sat down and yawned, as if bored. "Glad to see you wouldn't sit there and let us kill you." He smiled. "Are Frost and Ice as annoying as before?" He asked.

"Even more so." Hawk replied, calm as ever.

"Be careful, Smokey, Hawk." Ginger said as she and Goose disappeared over a ridge.

"Guys! It's almost sunhigh! We have to go." Sparrow shouted as he emerged.

The trio quickly ran off to catch up to their group.


	11. Chapter 11: Nightpaw

Chapter11: Nightpaw

"Beetlepaw!" Nightpaw hissed. "Beetlepaw, are you okay?"

Beetlepaw lifted his head from his nest in the den that was serving as his "prisoner den". "What do you want?" He hissed back.

Nightpaw peered in at Beetlepaw. "What happened?" He asked.

Beetlepaw rolled his eyes. "I got caught."

Nightpaw snorted. "Clearly. But _how_?"

"Coming back from meeting with Smokepaw, Foxpaw and Fernpaw didn't hear anything, I'm sure. The rest doesn't matter."

Nightpaw bristled. "What do you mean it doesn't matter? Of course it matters! We need to prove you innocence!"

Beetlepaw interrupted him. "What I was saying was that it doesn't matter because," he looked around then lowered his voice, "_they've _come."

Nightpaw blinked in confusion. "They?"

Beetlepaw rolled his eyes as if it was so obvious. "They should be here by dawn tomorrow. The rogues?"

"Oh!" Nightpaw felt stupid. "_They_. That makes much more sense."

"You have to warn Harepaw. I've contacted him and he's going to be on the dawn patrol for the RiverClan border tomorrow. You need to be on our dawn patrol tomorrow," Beetlepaw whispered.

Nightpaw nodded and dashed out of the den. "Reedwhisker!" He called.

"What is it?" The deputy asked.

"Could I be on the dawn patrol for the WindClan border tomorrow?" Nightpaw mewed, excited.

Reedwhisker cocked his head. "I was going to put you on the ShadowClan border patrol. Why WindClan?"

Nightpaw shrugged, "Just a hunch that they might need me."

Reedwhisker nodded dismissively, and Nightpaw padded up to his mentor.

"Hey, Nightpaw! How's your brother? I know that he would never betray the Clan." Pebblefoot greeted.

"He's fine." Nightpaw said in a voice that told Pebblefoot not to push it.

Pebblefoot blinked. "Okay, we should go hunting now."

"Actually," Nightpaw started, "Could we spend the whole day battle training? I feel like I need to brush up on my skills."

"But the Clans are at peace! And your battle skills are fine."

Nightpaw bristled. "Just because the Clans are at peace doesn't mean that we should go soft! And "fine" isn't good enough!"

Pebblefoot looked taken aback. "Okay," he muttered.

Nightpaw felt bad for yelling at his mentor, but this was important.

Once at the training grounds, Pebblefoot ran Nightpaw through all of the basic attack and defend positions.

"I still don't see why you wanted to practice, you are doing everything perfectly." Pebblefoot commented.

"I just like to be prepared." Nightpaw replied as he executed what Pebblefoot calls "a perfect front paw swipe".

Pebblefoot sighed. "How about some sparing?"

"Sure," Nightpaw responded as he crouched into an attack position.

Pebblefoot charged at Nightpaw, but Nightpaw was ready. He easily leapt onto Pebblefoot's back, clawing his spine with a sheathed paw. Pebblefoot stopped his charged and tried to shake Nightpaw off. When his attempts didn't work, he rolled onto his back, but not before Nightpaw jumped off. Nightpaw jumped back onto Pebblefoot and pinned him on his back, when Pebblefoot went limp, Nightpaw was not fooled.

"Alright, you win." Pebblefoot stated as Nightpaw let him up. "I told you, you are already at your best."

"Well, maybe my best isn't good enough." Nightpaw muttered.

"Okay, Nightpaw, what's wrong?" Pebblefoot questioned.

"I'm worried about my brother."

"Beetlepaw? Why?" Pebblefoot was surprised.

"Because he's not a traitor! He wouldn't do that! Maybe we was just exchanging news when he was out for a walk. He probably didn't even intend to meet that ShadowClan app– uh… cat." Nightpaw stammered. "He has… a hard time sleeping so… he goes out on night walks a lot to clear his head."

Pebblefoot narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "And why would he be at the border?"

"He probably went to check it since he was out there anyway. You can never be too careful."

Pebblefoot sighed. "It's getting late, and we're both on the dawn patrol tomorrow."

The two went back to camp. Pebblefoot gave Nightpaw permission to eat and he chose a plump trout to share with Beetlepaw. When Nightpaw went to the den were Beetlepaw was kept, he was stopped by Robinwing.

"What are you doing?" Nightpaw asked.

"No one is allowed to see Beetlepaw," Robinwing reported.

"And why is that?" He questioned.

Robinwing shrugged. "Mistystar's orders."

Nightpaw let out a hiss of frustration. "Well, can you give him this trout? It's his favorite."

Robinwing nodded and picked up the trout. He entered Beetlepaw's den.

Nightpaw marched up to his leader's den. "Mistystar!" He called.

"What is it, Nightpaw?" Mistystar asked when he entered the den.

"Why won't you let anyone see Beetlepaw?" Nightpaw asked.

Mistystar sighed. "It's complicated, Nightpaw we'll get this all settled out."

Nightpaw shook his head. "He didn't do anything wrong," He muttered as he left the den.

Nightpaw went to the apprentices' den and settled down as far away from Foxpaw and Fernpaw as possible.

The next morning, Nightpaw waited for the rest of the dawn patrol. Those who were going on the patrol were Pebblefoot, Rushheart, and Mintfur with their apprentices, Nightpaw, Foxpaw, and Fernpaw.

"A rather big border patrol," Mintfur muttered.

"I would be a good for the apprentices to get along." Rushheart commented.

Pebblefoot snorted at Rushheart's comment. "Alright, let's go, guys."

Once at the border, they met another large border patrol lead by Boulderfur consisting of Leaftail and Emberfoot, with their apprentices, Eaglepaw and Harepaw.

Nightpaw went to exchange a greeting with Harepaw. "Beetlepaw got caught meeting with Smokepaw."

Harepaw nodded, "He contacted me in a dream." He shrugged. "StarClan knows how."

"And Beetlepaw says that _they're_ here." Nightpaw whispered.

Harepaw gaped. "Already?"

Nightpaw was just about to say something else, but they were interrupted by Fernpaw and Foxpaw's yowling. They rushed over to where it came from beside the horseplace.


	12. Chapter 12: Harepaw

Chapter12: Harepaw

** A/N: Calico means with white/ginger/black patches (like Tawnypelt)**

Harepaw and Nightpaw, along with the rest of the two patrols, rushed over to where the yowling was coming from.

They rounded some trees and skidded to a halt in front of the horseplace. Surrounding Foxpaw and Fernpaw was a patrol of nine unfamiliar cats. The patrol was led by three cats that appeared to be littermates. The biggest was a white based calico tom with amber eyes, then a ginger based calico tom with amber eyes, and the smallest (although he was not very small) was a black based calico tom with amber eyes. The other cats all appeared to be about apprentice aged. There was as swift looking black tom with lighter tabby stripes and dark blue eyes; a dark brown tom with lighter patches, white paws, and yellow eyes; another tom who appeared to be his brother was brown with white stripes and green eyes; a white she-cat with black tabby stripes and dark blue eyes; another white she-cat but with pale tabby stripes and light blue eyes; and a long legged white she-cat with a darkening tail and greenish blue eyes.

Harepaw gasped. _These are the cats! They are the ones who want revenge._ He thought.

Nightpaw's mentor, Pebblefoot, yowled a battle cry before charging the rogues.

The WindClan cats waited to see if the RiverClan warrior could handle the rogues, but they were badly outnumbered, and the rogues were well trained. Soon Boulderfur was leading his patrol against the rogues, as well.

Harepaw found himself up against the swift black tom. The tom snarled at Harepaw.

"You're here to get revenge on the Clans for a broken promise, aren't you?" Harepaw snarled back.

They rogue looked shocked, and Harepaw used this to pin him.

"Who are you?" Harepaw hissed.

The rogue growled. "My name is Hawk; we call ourselves The Black Hearted Rogues. The Clans brought this on themselves. They promised! The broke their promise and forgot. They forgot, and now the forgotten will get revenge."

Hawk shoved Harepaw off, and was soon on top of him. Hawk snarled and was just about to give the killing bite, but the pause for a brief moment and glanced around. Hawk loosened his grip some and Harepaw shoved him off.

Harepaw snarled. He was just about to charge the rogue again, but Hawk dashed off to help one of his companions, the brown and white tabby, from under Rushheart. Harepaw looked around. He saw that Nightpaw needed help from the white she-cat with the darkening tail. He ran over and shoved her off of Nightpaw.

The rogue spun around and snarled at the two apprentices. She widened her eyes and ran over to where the white she-cat with black tabby stripes was fighting Fernpaw, and was just about to kill her. The rogue who was just on Nightpaw knocked Fernpaw to the ground. She clawed at Fernpaw's exposed belly and face, and made Fernpaw run back to her camp. The white and black tabby spun around to face her companion. Harepaw couldn't hear what they were saying, but the other she-cat said something that made them both turn around and continue to fight the Clan cats.

Suddenly, the ginger calico tom leapt on the fence of the horse place and yowled, "Black Hearted Rogues! I think we've left our mark here, let's go." All of the rogues ran over to him and jump over the fence. The last two over was the black tom, Hawk, and the tall she-cat with the darkening tail. They glanced back at the spitting Clan cats. Hawks eyes revealed something close to pity, and hope, while the she-cat's held anger, of a sort. They both followed their companions over the fence without looking back a second time.

"That was a fancy way of say retreat." Eaglepaw gloated.

"He's right, though. They did leave their mark." Emberfoot murmured.

Foxpaw trotted around, his head and tail high. "RiverClan is stronger than these so-called Black Hearted Rogues. They weren't very strong at all."

"Then how come WindClan had to step in and save you?" Eaglepaw snarled.

"We could have handled them by ourselves." Foxpaw hissed.

"Really? Then what about the one that almost killed Fernpaw?" Harepaw stated.

Foxpaw's eyes widened. "Fernpaw? Where's Fernpaw?! She was killed!" He wailed.

"Relax mousebrain. Another white she-cat attacked her and she fled back to camp." Nightpaw panted.

"We should probably go now." Leaftail said.

"So should we, all of us obtained major wounds." Mintfur commented. It was true, all of them were bleeding heavily, and needed to go and see their medicine cats.

The two patrol left to go to their camps. Once they were back at camp, Harepaw and his patrol were showered with questions.

"Did RiverClan do this? I'll shred them!" A young warrior growled.

"That's enough, everyone." Onestar commanded. "Boulderfur, what happened?" He asked as Kestrelflight began to treat the patrol's wounds.

"We were attack by a group of rogues." Boulderfur reported.

Onestar's eyes widened. "Some rogues did this?"

"Lots of big well trained rogues." Emberfoot muttered.

"We must be wary; they sounded as if they were getting revenge for something." Leaftail stated.

Onestar nodded. "I shall announce this at the gathering in a couple of days. I assume that RiverClan fought these rogues, as well?"

Eaglepaw was the one who responded. "We had to rescue them. They almost killed Fernpaw!"

The Clan gasped. "So these cats are willing to kill." Onestar's eyes clouded. "Very well, we shall send out bigger patrols."

When Kestrelflight had treated the wounds of all those on the patrol and the Clan dispersed to do what they had to do, Harepaw and Eaglepaw padded over to their mentors.

"That battle has taken a lot out of all of us." Leaftail stated.

"You two should get some rest." Emberfoot agreed. "No training until you two are fully healed."

Eaglepaw and Harepaw gaped. "What?!" They yowled. No way were they falling behind in their training just because of some stupid battle.

Leaftail gave them a stern look. "You need to rest; otherwise you risked prolonging your training even more."

The brothers made no other attempt to protest and went to their nests.

"That was weird." Harepaw murmured.

Eaglepaw glanced at him. "What?"

"You know how that patrol was led by three cats who appeared to be "warriors", and the others were like "apprentices"?" Harepaw asked.

"Yea, so?"

"So, I think that in order for them to become "warriors" they have to kill a cat." Harepaw sighed.

Eaglepaw growled. "They won't kill any of just to become warriors!"

"That's just it; they _didn't_ kill any of us." Harepaw stated.

"They almost killed Fernpaw." Eaglepaw pointed out.

"That's just it, again. They _almost_ killed her." Harepaw pressured. "If it weren't for that tall she-cat, Fernpaw would be crowfood."

Eaglepaw gave him a strange look. "Wasn't that the she-cat that turned Fernpaw into crowfood, though?"

Harepaw sighed, Eaglepaw didn't understand. "Never mind, go to sleep, we should rest as much we can in order to get back to training."

Eaglepaw curled up to leave Harepaw to his thoughts. _Wait a minute… that black tom! He _let _me go! But why? And the look he shot back at us…_ Harepaw realized. He decided the next change he got, he would have to talk with this tom.


	13. Chapter 13: Smokepaw

Chapter13: Smokepaw

Smokepaw had been an apprentice for another moon or so more. She met Blazepaw every couple of nights and she felt them growing closer together.

Tonight was the night of another gathering, and she was chosen to go. _I hope Blazepaw is there…_ She though. _A-and the others, too._

She arrived and the tree bridge to discover that ShadowClan was the first to arrive. She settled down in the same spot she was last gathering, in the back of the clearing. The next to arrive was ThunderClan, and Blazepaw came right over to her.

"What is taking RiverClan and WindClan?" Blazepaw wondered.

Smokepaw shrugged. Just then, WindClan arrived closely followed by RiverClan.

Nightpaw came over to them, but there was no sign of Beetlepaw or Harepaw.

Smokepaw gasped Nightpaw was covered in scratches and wounds. "What happened?" She asked.

"We were attacked by some rogues on a border patrol."

"That's terrible – wait, we?" Smokepaw wondered.

"WindClan and RiverClan fought side by side. Harepaw is probably still confined to camp. You don't know how hard it was to come here! Fernpaw almost died."

"Okay, if that's what happened with Harepaw then… where's Beetlepaw?" Blazepaw asked.

Nightpaw sighed. "He got caught meeting you, Smokepaw."

Smokepaw was shocked. "I-I'm so sorry." She felt terrible. "What'd the Clan do?"

"Fernpaw and Foxpaw were the ones that caught him. They labeled him as a traitor." Nightpaw spat.

Smokepaw lowered her gaze in shame.

"There's more."

"Huh?" Blazepaw questioned.

"About the rogues." Nightpaw responded.

Blazepaw shook his head. "I know. They are _the_ rogues."

Nightpaw didn't seem surprised, but Smokepaw was. "How did you know?" She asked.

"I saw them."

Nightpaw shook his head. "They almost killed Fernpaw and Harepaw. Somehow Harepaw managed to push that swift tom off of him and another rogue charged Fernpaw. That other rogue may have turned Fernpaw into crowfood, but Fernpaw swallowed her pride and ran back to camp. That was also the rogue that Harepaw saved me from. She looked like she didn't want Fernpaw to die for some reason."

The three apprentices sat in silence. Suddenly, Bramblestar called to gathering together. "ThunderClan is thriving! We have two new apprentices, Featherpaw and Stormpaw." The ThunderClan leader let the Clans cheer for the new apprentices, and Smokepaw joined in. "There is nothing else to report."

Blackstar was the next to step up. The old leader stood proud next to the other leaders. "All is well in ShadowClan; there is nothing new except Branchpaw has been made into a full medicine cat. He is now Branchpelt." Smokepaw cheered loudly for her friend, although she knew this already.

Onestar stood up. "WindClan is thriving, despite some… setbacks. One of our patrols was recently attacked by a group of rogues. These rogues seemed to have made their camp at the horseplace, but I advise all Clans to be wary."

Mistystar was the last to step up. "Yes, RiverClan fought alongside WindClan in that battle." She rasped. "Although, we didn't have any cat join StarClan, the managed to leave scars. Blackstar, we have reason to believe that one of our apprentices was spying for ShadowClan. Is this true?"

Blackstar frowned. "ShadowClan doesn't have any spies in RiverClan, Mistystar. Why would you think this?"

"He was caught at the ShadowClan bordered talking to a ShadowClan cat." Smokepaw bristled.

Blackstar shook his head. "I do not know of any cat that would be seeing this apprentice of yours. He could have just been on a walk checking the borders."

Mistystar narrowed her eyes. "Very well. RiverClan is leaving."

Nightpaw looked back at Smokepaw and Blazepaw. "Fernpaw is weakening the Clan. Bye."

Smokepaw and Blazepaw said their byes and join their own Clan, as well.

Smokepaw didn't sleep well that night. She kept shivering from her nightmares. Her mind was filled with screeching cats in a hollow surrounded by four great oaks, and the clearing turned red with blood. But as dawn approached, the horrible battle turned peaceful with five cats vowing to lead their Clans for moon of good health. _Wait, five? There are only four Clans…_ That was when Smokepaw was plunged into blurry images of SkyClan's past. She could barely make out any of it, except that they were driven out of the forest but were now thriving in a faraway gorge. She also knew how to find them. _How strange that this is the dream that StarClan sends me when the rogues attack._

Smokepaw was awoken by Neetletail.

"Pinenose said that I can train you myself today! Isn't that great?" He purred.

Smokepaw nodded. "Great." She muttered.

Neetletail stared at her. "What's wrong?"

Smokepaw sighed. "Nothing, just a few bad dreams.

Neetletail nodded. "Perhaps you should see Branchpelt sometime."

Smokepaw looked up at Neetletail. "Branchpelt? What about Littlecloud?"

Neetletail lowered his gaze. "He watches us from Silverpelt, he died in his sleep."

"Oh," Smokepaw lowered her gaze also. The old tom was a well-respected medicine cat, even among the other Clans. He was a great loss, and Smokepaw wished that Branchpelt could handle the responsibilities of being ShadowClan's sole medicine cat.

"Well, come on! We need to get on with training, now that there are rogues to watch out for." Neetletail bounded out of the den, snapping Smokepaw from her moment of sadness.

Smokepaw shook her head and followed him to the battle grounds.

Neetletail went over all of the basic and not-so-basic battle positions. The young tom was sure to get an apprentice soon.

"That's great, Smokepaw! Just remember, when you are on your hind legs, keep your tail out of reach from the enemy. The less you give them to claw, the better." Neetletail was saying as they practiced fighting on hind legs.

Smokepaw nodded and brought her tail closer to herself. She wanted to be ready for when the rogues attack ShadowClan, as they certain would.

"Well, I think that you are doing an excellent job for battle practice, let's move on to hunting.

Smokepaw agreed, although she still wanted to continue battle training, she was aware that the Clan needed to be fed.

At the end of the short day, Smokepaw didn't miss a single piece of prey, despite her worry. She came back with a frog and two mice, while Neetletail had a squirrel and a lizard.


	14. Chapter 14: Hawk

Chapter14: Hawk

"You messed up my kill!"

"So what if I did? You were being lazy. That kill wouldn't earn you the right of a member; she was too scrawny and weak."

"That's not for you to decide."

Hawk sighed. They were back at their camp, and Frost and Smokey were arguing about the battle. They were ready to tear out each other's throats and claim that as their kill.

"That's enough, you two." Stone growled when he came up with Moss and Dove, a light gray she-cat with blue eyes. "Smokey is right, though. If it was just a scrawny Clan apprentice, then it would be a more worthy kill for when it became a warrior."

Frost growled at this, but knew to hold her tongue.

"If by what Jumper tells me is true, they the attack was a success?" Stone asked.

The three calico brothers, Jumper, Spike, and Hoot, led the patrol. Jumper was the leader, a ginger calico tom, while Spike was the biggest, a white calico tom, and Hoot their little brother, a black calico tom. This was their first time leading a patrol; they had only recently made their first kill. And although he didn't show it, Hawk knew from past experience that Hoot was still slightly shaken. The two were great friends when they were kits, and were still close.

Ice nodded, she had been watching the argument with her sister and hadn't spoken since she got back.

Moss stepped in. "The next will be a battle patrol on the other side of the lake. The target is the Clan called ThunderClan. Dove will lead the patrol along with Streak, Spark, and Cloud." Streak was a muscular orange tom with yellow eyes and white paws. He was the father of Eagle, a dark brown tom with lighter patches and white paws and yellow eyes, and Tree, a light brown tom with white tabby stripes and light green eyes. Spark was a fast black she-cat with one ginger paw and amber eyes. While Cloud was a big white tom with light gray eyes. "The trainees going will be Eagle, Tree, Frost, Sparrow, and Ice. Hawk and Smokey are on hunting duty. The patrol will attack in four days. You are all required to hunt for the group, as usual, until then. Dismissed."

The trainees went off to do their separate duties. Hawk went up to Smokey.

"Okay, why did you _really_ save that scrawny apprentice? I though you hated the Clan cats." Hawk questioned.

"I do, it would just be more fun when they're older. Besides what if _I_ wanted to kill her?" Smokey replied bitterly.

"That's not true, and you know it." Hawk pressed.

"I have to help Sparrow train to balance in the trees." Smokey snarled. Hawk backed off. He wasn't a tree climber, he was a moor runner.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go hunting." Hawk said as he padded off. Smokey didn't reply.

Hawk sighed. He knew there was more to why he had let that Clan cat go; it was because he saw himself in the cat's eyes. _That cat knows of the past, just as I do._ He though as he padded out to the moor.

Hawk soon found himself chasing as fat rabbit across the moor. He was sure that he was in Clan territory and kept his guard up. None of The Black Hearted Rogues obtained any injuries that Crow, Hawk's sister who had the pelt inverse of Hawk's, hadn't been able to treat and they were all on their paws. He easily caught the rabbit. Hawk's few scratches had closed, and they wouldn't leave scars, he was surprised at how easy the fighting was.

Hawk buried the rabbit by one of the moor's few trees to get later. He swore that he scented Clan cat, but the scent of Clan cat was everywhere. Hawk continued to look for prey, but was shoved to the ground by a strong force.

Hawk struggled to get loose, but the cat had a strong grip and held on with unsheathed paws that sent pain shooting through Hawk every time he moved. Hawk soon gave up and went limp. He closed his eyes waiting for the killing bite.

But the cat never delivered it. The cat only tightened its grip on Hawk's shoulders. "I don't think so, Hawk." The cat snarled in his ear.

Hawk's eyes snapped open. That was the same voice of the Clan apprentice that he let go at the battle. "W-what…? What are you…?"

"What am I doing?" The apprentice mocked. "I want answers. You let me go, I know you did. I also know that you must kill a cat to become a full member of your group."

Hawk tried to turn his head to look at the apprentice, but he had a firm grip. "How did you know that?"

The cat leaned closer. "I know more than I should. And so do you, Hawk."

Hawk snarled that the cat. "Who are you?"

"My name is Harepaw." Harepaw hissed. "Now, why did you let me go? And why did you friend rescue Fernpaw?"

Hawk frowned. "Fernpaw? No one rescued anyone."

Harepaw sunk his claws deeper into Hawk's shoulders. "I'm not stupid." He hissed. "That cat with the darkening tail chased off an apprentices that was about to get killed by the white she-cat with black tabby stripes."

"You mean Smokey and Frost?"

Harepaw hissed at Hawk. He then yowled loudly what seemed like a signal. Hawk flinched. He was calling other Clan cats!

Hawk widened his eyes to see three cats coming over the hill. One was obviously Harepaw's littermate looked a lot like Eagle, except he was light brown and didn't have different colored patches. The other two were a dark tabby tom and a gray tom with two dark paws.

"Who's this?" The dark tabby tom asked. His amber eyes were narrowed in suspicion.

"This is Hawk, Leaftail. I caught him hunting in our territory." Harepaw responded.

"I saw him fighting for the rogues!" Harepaw's littermate snarled.

"Yes, Eaglepaw, he is." Harepaw spat.

_Eaglepaw? He even has the same name as Eagle! How strange._ Hawk thought.

"I think we should bring him back to camp for questioning." The last one stated. "He could be used to bribe the other rogues."

Hawk snorted. The Clan cats stared at him. Hawk flattened his ears.

Harepaw stepped off of Hawk, but before he could think to run, the four cats had surrounded him. Eaglepaw roughly shoved him to his paws. There was nowhere for Hawk to run.

Once the patrol entered camp, Hawk was even more surrounded than before. The warriors had their claws unsheathed as if the wished to run it through Hawk's pelt.

"Emberfoot, who is this?" A cat who appeared to be their leader asked the dark pawed tom.

"Harepaw found this rogue hunting in our territory, Onestar." Emberfoot replied.

"I know that rogue!" A large pale gray tom who Hawk had seen in the battle snarled. Every cat stared at him. "That rogue fought in the battle." This caused all the Clan cats to bare their teeth and look even more menacing than before. "And what's more," the tom started again, "this cat nearly killed Harepaw! Haw was just about to, when Harepaw shoved him off."

This sent the gathered Clan into an uproar. They started screeching "Kill him!" and "The murderer deserves to die!" Hawk flattened his ears.

"Wait!" Harepaw yowled. "He let me go."

"What do you mean?" The leader, Onestar, asked.

"He _let_ me go. He didn't want to kill me. He looked as if he didn't even want to be in the battle."

This sparked Onestar's interest. "What do you suppose we should do with him?"

Harepaw had an idea. He still needed answers from the rogue. "I say we keep him as a prisoner, he must know something that can help us against the rogues, and they don't seem as if they are leaving soon."

Hawk stared at Harepaw in fear. _No!_ He thought. If the Clan cats killed him, then The Black Hearted Rogues could have thought that the Clan cheated in an _unfair_ fight. As in they ganged up on him. Whereas he was doomed for them to hate him if they discovered that he'd just given up and let them take him prisoner. "What are you doing?" He hissed quietly to Harepaw.

"What? You _want_ to die?" Harepaw smirked.

Hawk was escorted to a spare burrow, and two warriors were placed to guard him. Harepaw soon followed him inside. Hawk saw for the first time the wounds he inflicted on Harepaw. He stared in shock at what he had done.

"What? Only now realizing how much you had beaten me?" Harepaw hissed. He narrowed his eyes. "Alright, Hawk. Now, you should probably give me some answers."

Hawk pretended to look like he didn't know what Harepaw was talking about. This caused Harepaw to swipe at his nose in frustration. Hawk stepped back in time to have his nose prevented from being sliced open.

"I know you're not stupid, Hawk." Harepaw lowered his voice and glanced at the guards. "I've figured out why you let me go. You know that I know more than I should, just as you do."

Hawk gaped at Harepaw. How had the apprentice figured it out so easily?

Harepaw settled down. "Alright, so tell me what you know."

Hawk shook his head and looked at the ground. "I-I can't." He shook his head again. "I just can't."

Harepaw growled in frustration and left then den. The guard gave him some rabbit a little while later. Hawk drifted off into a restless sleep. His usual dreams had returned. They had gone since the journey to the Clans' home started.


	15. Chapter 15: Beetlepaw

Chapter15: Beetlepaw

Nightpaw entered the den with a trout to share. Mistystar had allowed visitors for Beetlepaw after the last gathering. Nightpaw's scratches were healing well, but there was on right above his right eye that would leave a scar.'

Nightpaw settled down across from Beetlepaw. "Mistystar wants to see you after you eat." He nudged the trout closer to Beetlepaw.

Beetlepaw nodded in thanks and took a couple of bites. "I haven't done anything in nearly a half moon. I'm not hungry, and I think I'm getting fat."

Nightpaw sighed. "Well, come on."

Beetlepaw followed Nightpaw to Mistystar's den.

"Okay, tell me about your dreams, Beetlepaw." Mistystar commanded.

Beetlepaw stared at Nightpaw. "You _told_?"

Nightpaw looked as his paws. "You know I had to, Beetlepaw."

Beetlepaw fluffed up his fur in annoyance.

"Beetlepaw, calm down. I knew that there was something Nightpaw wasn't saying when he asked to be put on the WindClan dawn patrol and battle trained all day." Mistystar explained. "He was also so certain that you didn't betray your Clan. So why _did_ you meet with that ShadowClan cat?"

"I told you, Mistystar! He just goes on night walks and was checking the border when that ShadowClan apprentice just happened to be there so they–"

"Wait a moment," Mistystar interrupted. "Fernpaw and Foxpaw never said that the cat was an apprentice." She narrowed her eyes. "How would you know that?"

Beetlepaw sighed and shook his head. "One apprentice from each Clan has been getting these… dreams. I was just exchanging news about them with the one from ShadowClan. I normally meet with the one from WindClan, though. The dreams were how I knew that the rogues were coming and I told Nightpaw."

Mistystar nodded. "StarClan told me that I should ask for your secret. Don't worry, I won't tell the Clan. We could just go with Nightpaw's explanation. You a free to go back to your apprentice duties and make up for lost time."

Beetlepaw blinked gratefully at his brother and they both left the den.

"All cats old enough to swim gather to hear my words!" Mistystar yowled.

Beetlepaw surveyed the clearing, and was overjoyed to learn that Fernpaw and Foxpaw weren't there. Although, Fernpaw could just be sleeping in the medicine cats' den, just as she had been doing since the battle.

"I have discovered that Beetlepaw has not betrayed his Clan, and that he was just going for a walk when he met the ShadowClan cat."

Mistystar's announcement was met by yowls of protest. Apparently, Fernpaw's lies had grown popular in the Clan.

"He seems to go for a lot of walks!" One warrior yowled.

"That may be because night walks help Beetlepaw relax." Beetlepaw flattened his ears at Mistystar's answer.

The cats were silent as they took in what Mistystar had said. "Beetlepaw is free to continue on with his training." Mistystar dismissed the cats.

As the Clan went on to do their duties, Beetlepaw went up to Grasspelt.

"Well, as seeing as there are rogues to watch out for, I'd say we should do some battle training." Grasspelt greeted.

Beetlepaw nodded, anything would be better than just sitting around the camp.

They soon arrived in the clearing that was used for battle practice. Beetlepaw flattened his ears when he saw Foxpaw. Scratches covered the young apprentice's pelt.

When Foxpaw charged Beetlepaw, he let out a screech and charged the black apprentice. "Traitor!" He spat. He then turned to Grasspelt. "Why did you bring him out of camp?"

"Get off of him!" Grasspelt snarled before shoving the smaller tom off of Beetlepaw. "He's no traitor. Mistystar explained how he's innocent."

Foxpaw snorted and glared at Beetlepaw with distrust.

The two apprentices retreated to opposite sides of the clearing to work on their own battle stances. Beetlepaw new how strong the large group of rogues was. This caused him to work extra hard, other than to show Foxpaw.

"Okay, that's good, just try to crouch lower, and don't trip yourself with your tail." Grasspelt

Beetlepaw nodded and crouched lower to the ground to build up more strength.

"I think we should move onto water combat now." Grasspetlt stated after a few hours.

Grasspelt led Beetlepaw to a river. The two spent the rest of the day practicing holding their breath for long periods of time, underwater offensive attacks, and underwater defense.

When they got back at camp, Grasspelt gave Beetlepaw permission to eat.

Beetlepaw took a cod and brought it over to where Nightpaw was sitting with a group of warriors. Foxpaw was also there, and when he saw Beetlepaw coming, he whispered to some warriors who got up and left.

"Traitor," some of them hissed at Beetlepaw.

Beetlepaw sighed and settled down next to Nightpaw.

"Don't worry, give them time." Nightpaw said without looking up.

Beetlepaw nodded. He was just trying to help his Clan, it was Fernpaw's fault he was labeled a traitor.

"Where is Fernpaw, anyway? Is she _still_ in Willowshine's den?" Beetlepaw asked.

Nightpaw sighed. "She almost died. She'll be in there for a while longer." He looked up at Beetlepaw. "Who knows? Maybe she'll get so far behind that we'd become warriors before her!"

Beetlepaw purred at the thought. If he was a warrior first, then he would be a higher rank than Fernpaw! But Beetlepaw shook his head. "We cannot think like that. We must image that all of our clanmates are great additions to the war to save our Clan. The sooner she heals, the sooner she can continue to fight for her Clan."

His statement caused Nightpaw stare at him oddly.

"What?" Beetlepaw asked.

Nightpaw shook his head. "Nothing, I would have though you would be mad at Fernpaw for all she's done."

Beetlepaw sighed. "I can't afford to let anger cloud my judgment."

"Spoken like a true leader." Nightpaw closed his eyes.

Beetlepaw flattened his ears. "I have the knowledge of some of the Ancients. I have more experience. The time off from training has allowed me time to determine the meaning of my dreams. I am not impressed."

Nightpaw stared at Beetlepaw.  
"What do you mean?"

Beetlepaw gazed deeply into Nightpaw's eyes. "I can understand the feelings of The Black Hearted Rogues."

Nightpaw gasped. "Those monsters?! How can you believe in what they are doing?"

Beetlepaw shook his head. "I don't." He sighed. "I just understand what some of them a feeling slightly. I don't even believe all of them believe what they're doing is."

Nightpaw narrowed his eyes. "Now that you mention it…" Nightpaw seemed lost in thought so Beetlepaw decided to go to his nest for the night.

Beetlepaw was glad that Nightpaw had replaced the moss to his nest and prepared for his return. Foxpaw was already fast asleep on the far side of den. Nightpaw arrived soon after.

"Thanks for making my nest." Beetlepaw thanked Nightpaw.

Nightpaw frowned. "I didn't do that. I thought you had."

Beetlepaw stared at Nightpaw in shocked. "If not you then who…" Beetlepaw's eyes drifted over to the sleeping form of Foxpaw. He seemed tense, as if having an unsettling dream.

Nightpaw shook his head. "He wouldn't do it; he's one of Fernpaw's followers." He spat.

Beetlepaw shrugged before curling up and drifting off to sleep.


	16. Chapter 16: Blazepaw

Chapter16: Blazepaw

**Bet you didn't think I'd update, did you? I GOT MY BOATING LISCENSE! YESS! FINALLY! I was at a place two hours away and its multiple hours and then a test... But I'm still updating once a day! Oh, and while I'm doing an author's note: guys, they people who review this story and say they like it, what are the chances they have a similar type of story and you might like theirs? Seriously though, try their stories!**

Blazepaw kneaded the ground with worry. They had just scented rogue scent on the recent border patrol, and Cloudtail, who was leading the patrol, went to tell Bramblestar.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!" Bramblestar's yowl made the warriors look up at their leader in surprise.

Blazepaw moved closer next to Featherpaw, Stormpaw, and Stonepaw. "I wonder what this meeting is about." Featherpaw mewed to Stonepaw, who shrugged in response. Blazepaw and Stormpaw, who were both on the patrol, remained silent.

"Well, if you would be quiet, then you might find out!" A cat behind them hissed.

"Sor-_ry_, didn't mean to bother you, _Seedpaw_." Featherpaw rolled her eyes.

The ginger she-cat just snorted and turned back to Bramblestar.

"A border patrol found fresh rogue scents on the ShadowClan border. I believe the rogues are looking for a battle. We shall patrol that border one more time."

The cats gasped and started murmuring to themselves. "Silence!" Bramblestar ordered impatiently. All of the cats in the clearing turned their attention back to Bramblestar.

"You all know what the rogues did to RiverClan and WindClan. We can never be too careful. The cats that will be on the regular border patrol will be the patrol from this morning, Cloudtail, Ivypool, Molepelt, Blazepaw, and Stormpaw." Stormpaw had been apprenticed to Molepelt, and Featherpaw had been apprenticed to his sister, Cherryfern. "The cats that will be on the battle patrol to provide reinforcements for the border patrol will be myself, Squirrelflight, Lionblaze, Dovewing, Cinderheart, Toadstep, Stonepaw, Mousewhisker, and Seedpaw."

"That's an awfully big patrol!" A cat in the crowd yowled.

Bramblestar blinked. "You can never be to cautious, we need to show these rogues that we will not be defeated!"

The cats on the patrols left. The border patrol went to "check the border" while the battle patrol stayed behind, practically out of earshot, but Blazepaw appeared to be one of the only cats to know why. _It's because of Dove's Wing's hearing! Wait, Dovewing is Dove's Wing!_ Blazepaw suddenly realized.

The border patrol came across a regular patrol of ShadowClan cats. They didn't seem to know what was happening. It was a small patrol; there were only three cats on it. The patrol was led by Neetletail, a young ShadowClan warrior, and consisted of Pinenose and Smokepaw. Blazepaw's heart skipped a beat when he saw Smokepaw. _No! What is she doing here? She could get hurt!_

Cloudtail dipped his head in greeting to the ShadowClan patrol, and then stopped. Blazepaw suddenly realized that they were using The ShadowClan patrol to try to seem casual.

Neetletail dipped his head. "Greetings, Cloudtail. Such a large border patrol, isn't it?"

"Can never be too careful with the rogues about." Cloudtail replied smoothly.

Blazepaw realized that Smokepaw had her ears perked, and was listening to something. "What is it?" He whispered.

"Shh!" She commanded without looking at him.

Suddenly, there was a furious yowl, and a group of large cats suddenly jumped from the trees.

_Their using our battle skills against us!_ Blazepaw though as he was shoved to the ground by an unknown cat. Thankfully, Blazepaw realized that here were only about nine cats, four of whom appeared to be warriors, four others who could have been apprentices, and one kit that should still be in the nursery.

The two patrols were outnumbered, and Blazepaw found himself under a lithe black she-cat with one ginger paw. There was yowling, and paws came racing though the underbrush. Suddenly, the weight was lifted from Blazepaw. He found that the rouge were outnumbered nearly two-to-one. _But they're still beating us!_ Blazepaw thought. _Most of these cats were made for the trees._

Blazepaw found him alone against the small black kit. The kit looked like he didn't want to be there but was fighting anyway.

Blazepaw used his bigger size against the kit. He soon had the cat pinned. The cat started clawing at Blazepaw's belly with unexpectedly sharp claws. Blazepaw yowled and leaped off of him, droplets of blood staining the grass. The kit was just a flash of black as he jabbed and slashed at Blazepaw. _How is this _kit _beating me?_ Blazepaw thought. Smokepaw leaped in beside him and shoved the kit off of him.

"Smokepaw!" Blazepaw exclaimed, surprised.

"We have almost twice as many cats as them, and their still beating us!" Smokepaw told him.

The kit hissed at Smokepaw. Suddenly, there was a yowl of "Black Hearted Rogues! We have left our mark, time to go!" From a gray she-cat. All of the rogues started pelting after her, and the kit was about to join them, but Smokepaw and Blazepaw leaped on him and had him pinned.

Stonepaw was prancing around the clearing. "Yea you better run!" He stopped when he heard the rogue kit hissing at Smokepaw and Blazepaw. "Who do you have there?"

All of the cats started coming around the rogue, who flattened his ears and snarled at them.

"You've captured one of them?" Bramblestar asked.

Blazepaw and Smokepaw looked at each other. Blazepaw nodded.

Smokepaw got off the rogue and went over to the other two ShadowClan cats were waiting, covered in their own blood. Pinenose nodded to the ThunderClan cats, and headed off into their own territory.

Blazepaw let Lionblaze pit up the rogue by his scruff and carry him back to camp.

When they arrived, Featherpaw, who wasn't assigned to a patrol that fought the rogues, ran up to them. "What happened? Did you beat them so they would leave the lake for good? Who is that? How much did you beat them by–"Featherpaw stopped asking questions when she saw the wounds on her clanmates. Molepelt was limping badly, and Toadstep had to be carried by Squirrelflight and Mousewhisker. All of the cats were support a little more than minor wounds, except for Lionblaze, whose pelt was red with his enemy's blood.

Bramblestar bounded up to the Highledge and called to the Clan. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather to hear my words." The ThunderClan leader sounded weary, and most cats were already in clearly to see how the battle had gone. Everyone stared up at their leader to hear his announcement.

"There were nine rogues, when the second patrol arrived we, along with a patrol of three ShadowClan cats, outnumbered them nearly two-to-one. They were still beating us. We are lucky to not have lost anyone, and lucky that they left when they did." The leader sighed. "To those who are wondering about the rogue that Lionblaze brought back to camp, Blazepaw captured him with the help of a ShadowClan apprentice, Smokepaw."

Featherpaw sighed. "If I were there, then _I_ could have been the one to help you bring down that rogue." She whispered to Blazepaw.

Blazepaw nodded in response, and then turned his attention back to Bramblestar.

"However, one deserving apprentice has fought bravely, and I believe she has earned her right to join ThunderClan as a warrior. Seedpaw stepped forward."

"Great, she's just going to get even _more_ annoying now that she's a warrior." Stonepaw muttered.

"Mousewhisker," Bramblestar continued. "Is Seedpaw ready to become a warrior?"

Mousewhisker nodded, "She is more than ready."

"Seedpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Bramblestar asked.

"I do." Seedpaw was practically shaking with excitement. Sorreltail and Brackenfur were practically bursting with pride.

"Then by the power of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. From now on, you stall be known as Seeddapple, we honor your spirit and hunting skills." Bramblestar rested his muzzle on Seeddaple's head, who in turn respectively licked his shoulder.

"Seeddapple! Seeddapple!" The Clan chanted her name, and despite how he finds her annoying, Blazepaw did the same.

The newest warrior walked over to her sister, Lilypaw, who had chosen the path of a medicine cat.

Blazepaw saw that the small rogue was sitting next to Lionblaze, with his ears flattened. As the sun set, Blazepaw saw Lionblaze escort the rogue to the opposite edge of the camp.

Blazepaw sighed and went to his den; Seeddapple would be starting her vigil.

Blazepaw found himself in a clearing. There were three other cats in the clearing, with a start Blazepaw realize that they were Beetlepaw, Harepaw, and Smokepaw.

"Blazepaw!" Smokepaw yowled before running over to greet him.

"Glad to see you came." Harepaw commented.

Beetlepaw nodded. "Smokepaw told us what happened."

"I've captured a rogue, too. But he was hunting." Harepaw reported.

"It seems those two are two of the rogues that don't want to kill the Clans." Beetlepaw observed.

"There's one more we should try to talk to." Harepaw said. "She saved Fernpaw's life."

"How?" Smokepaw asked.

"She charged Fernpaw and made her retreat." Harepaw said. "She is a white she-cat with a darkening tail and blue-green eyes."

The others nodded and started to fade.


	17. Chapter 17: Smokepaw

Chapter17: Smokepaw

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather for a Clan meeting!" Blackstar's call awakened Smokepaw from her rest in the apprentices' den.

Smokepaw walked into the clearing, yawning. She sat next to Neetletail and asked, "What's happening?"

"Do you ever pay attention?" Neetletail purred in reply. With a start Smokepaw realized that it was Vinekit, Yewkit, and Hollowkit's apprentice ceremony. The three Ivytail's kits and they were six moons old that day.

"Vinekit, Yewkit, Hollowkit, step forward." The three kits bounded up to their white leader. "These kits have reached the age of six moons, and I asked StarClan to watch over them as they train to be a warrior. Vinekit, from this day forward until she has earned her warrior name she shall be known as Vinepaw. Her mentor shall be Crowfrost." The gray tabby apprentice bounded over to her mentor and touched noses, green eyes shining. "Yewkit, from this day forward until she has earned her warrior name, she shall be known as Yewpaw. Her mentor shall be Olivenose." Yewpaw's yellow eyes shined as the light gray apprentice did the same as her sister. "Hollowkit, from this day forward until he receives his warrior name, he is to be known as Hollowpaw. I will be his mentor." The black tom seemed shocked for a heartbeat, then he touched noses with Blackstar.

"Sorry you didn't get to be a full mentor today, Neetletail." The gray apprentice said as she walked to the training clearing.

Neetletail purred. "Blackstar asked me if I'd like to be a mentor, but I told him that I had to finish up you're training, first."

Smokepaw felt bad. "You didn't need to do that! Pinenose could finish."

"No, I felt I must. It's as much my responsibility." Neetletail stated.

They arrived in the training clearing to practice battle moves. They both knew that they needed to practice for when they would come across the rogues again.

"Ready for some sparring?" Neetletail asked. Smokepaw responded with a nod.

The two began circling each other. Smokepaw was awake of Hollowpaw and Blackstar watching her, and intended to do extra well. Suddenly, Neetletail lunged at her. She heard Hollowpaw gasp, but she dodged to the side and leaped on Neetletail before he could turn. Neetletail tried to shake her off as she pummeled him with sheathed claws. Neetletail flipped over, squashing Smokepaw. He rolled over and pinned her. Smokepaw clawed at Neetletail's exposed belly, and he got off her just as he would in a real fight. Smokepaw leaped back. She aimed for his shoulders and lunged, but went to the side and clawed Neetletail's flank. He whipped around, but Smokepaw had already disappeared. Neetletail moved cautiously forward, looking for her. She let out an earsplitting yowl and dropped down on the warrior using a tactic she saw the rogues use. This winded Neetletail and Smokepaw pinned his shoulders and brought her teeth around his neck.

"Dead," She announced, letting Neetletail up.

"That was amazing!" Hollowpaw exclaimed.

Blackstar nodded. "You did a great job, just as you did for the battle with the rogues."

Smokepaw puffed out her chest at the praise.

"Yea and you used that same tactic that rogues did to get the drop on us, although they did it at the start of the battle. It's kind of like what ThunderClan does, but they aren't sneaky enough to get up there in the middle of the fight!" Neetletail purred.

Hollowpaw crouched down like he was facing an invisible enemy. "You have to show me that move! You're so fast." Hollowpaw's eyes gleamed with admiration.

Blackstar nodded, eyes gleaming. "Maybe we could join in? Hollowpaw does need to start battle training."

Neetletail nodded. "That'd be great. Smokepaw, show us that move again."

Smokepaw nodded. "Okay, well, I distracted him than I ran behind him…" Smokepaw demonstrated on Neetletail. "Then, while he was recovering, I ran up the tree." Smokepaw jumped up a couple of branches, but she was still in view. "Of course, he could see me, but who would look up?" She dropped down on Neetletail for emphasis.

"Wow!" Hollowpaw exclaimed as Smokepaw and Neetletail stood up. "Let me try!"

Blackstar and Hollowpaw faced each other. Hollowpaw ran sheathed claws down Blackstar's flank as he ran. Hollowpaw quickly jumped three branches up. While Blackstar was distracted, Hollowpaw leaped down on top of the leader. The force of the blow wasn't enough to knock him over, but it certainly winded him. Hollowpaw got off Blackstar.

"Excellent!" The white tom exclaimed. "The Clan always needs great fighters. Especially now," The old leader added solemnly.

Hollowpaw looked confused.

"There are rogues invading." Smokepaw quickly explained.

Hollowpaw snorted. "Mere rogues? Then why is everyone so anxious? We can easily beat them. We're Clan cats!"

"They may have been too, at some point," Smokepaw muttered.

"Huh?" Hollowpaw questioned.

Smokepaw looked up. "Oh, nothing, nothing at all."

Hollowpaw nodded slowly. "Hey, Blackstar! Can we go hunting?"

Blackstar looked at Neetletail. "You know, I would have given him to you as an apprentice," He whispered, but Smokepaw still heard it.

Neetletail nodded. "I understand. Smokepaw and I can teach him some hunting tricks if you have the Clan you need to attend to."

Blackstar's eyes shined with gratitude, and he left to go back to camp.

"Okay, Hollowpaw. Smokepaw is going to show you the hunting crouch." Neetletail informed him. Hollowpaw was shaking with excitement. Smokepaw lowered herself into the hunter's crouch. "That is an almost perfect hunting crouch, except, Smokepaw, you need to roll yourself back a little more on your hunches to build more power for your leap." Smokepaw nodded as she fixed her hunting crouch. "Why don't you try, Hollowpaw?"

Hollowpaw nodded and copied Smokepaw's perfected crouch. Neetletail nudged him more into place. "As I said to Smokepaw, you need to roll yourself back onto your hunches more; it would give you more power when you leap. That's it! Now, how about we go hunting?"

Hollowpaw's eyes widened. For how much he had learned, Smokepaw was surprised when she realized that this was still only his first day.

They went deeper into ShadowClan territory. Suddenly, Hollowpaw perked his ears and scented the air. He flicked his tail to signal prey, and Smokepaw and Neetletail stopped. Hollowpaw did just as he was supposed to, he watched his surrounds, crept forward lightly, and approached from downwind. He even did a perfect hunter's crouch. Smokepaw was amazed, when the young apprentice was in range, he leaped and landed squarely on the mouse and broke it's spine. When he turned around, Neetletail and Smokepaw were both gaping at him.

"What?" He asked sarcastically.

"How did you do that?" Neetletail questioned.

Hollowpaw shrugged. "It just came to me."

Smokepaw narrowed her eyes and congratulated Hollowpaw.

When they got back to camp, Neetletail gave them permission to eat and padded off to Blackstar's den.

"Wanna just share this?" Hollowpaw asked.

_We're just friends._ Smokepaw told herself as she settled down with Hollowpaw.

Several warriors came up to them. "Did Hollowpaw actually catch that mouse?" One asked.

Smokepaw nodded as Hollowpaw stared at the ground in embarrassment.

"Wow! And it's just his first time out of camp."

"He's a fast learner." The warriors padded off.

"Today was a good day, huh?" Hollowpaw asked as they dug into their prey.

Smokepaw nodded. _I wonder if I should tell him. There is just something about him… The moves he was demonstrating in training today were that of seasoned warriors. Not even a "fast learner" can be that good._ Smokepaw decided to ask her ancestors during her dreams tonight.

When it was time to get some sleep, there were three new nests in the apprentices' den. Vinepaw and Yewpaw had made Hollowpaw a nest when they made their own. Smokepaw settled down in her own nest, and, to Smokepaw's annoyance, Hollowpaw moved his own closer. Their nests were so close, their pelts were practically touching. Smokepaw sighed and drifted off.

Smokepaw found herself in a pine forest. At the other end of the clearing was a familiar pelt.

"Littlecloud!" She called as she raced over.

Littlecloud purred. "It's good to see you again, Smokepaw. I believe there is something you wished to ask me?"

"Well… yes. It's about Hollowpaw…" Smokepaw started.

"Yes, there is something about Hollowpaw, I understand, but let your memories tell you." Littlecloud cut in.

Smokepaw closed her eyes. For a moment, nothing happened. Smokepaw was plunged into scenes of a young black tom that looked a lot like Hollowpaw but who was the age of a warrior. The scenes took place at what Smokepaw assumed to be The Old Forest, according to the elders. _The New Hunting Grounds,_ a voice whispered in Smokepaw's ears. She watched how the tom moved the same as Hollowpaw. Suddenly, it hit her. Hollowpaw was from the past! _I should tell Hollowpaw…_ She thought. _Give it time. I still need to ask the others._ She decided to wait, and as the world faded into darkness one name echoed in her mind.

_Jackdaw's Cry…_


	18. Chapter 18: Smokey

Chapter18: Smokey

When the others returned, she instantly went over to Tree.

"Where's Sparrow?" Smokey hissed.

Tree flattened his ears. "About that…"

They were interrupted by Moss coming to get a report from Dove. "What happened?"

"We showed those Clans. Even though we were greatly outnumbered, it was still so easy." Dove smirked.

"Although, they did take Sparrow." Cloud reported.

"What?" Moss hissed.

Spark shrugged. "The little scrap was just a small kit. It's no surprise."

Moss look down at the smaller she-cat. "It is because now we have one less trainee!" She snarled and stalked off.

When the others went off to do who-knows-what, Smokey corned Tree. "What. Happened." She hissed at the sturdy tom.

Tree shrugged, which only made Smokey angrier. "W-ell, um, I tried to stay close to him, yes I did, but this little orange-ish apprentice got in my way. I had my own two warriors to fight and… they took him. They wouldn't let 'im run back to us."

Smokey growled at Tree, preparing to lunge herself at him when his brother intervened. "It wasn't Tree's fault." Eagle stared into Smokey's burning eyes.

"Oh?" Smokey snorted.

"Yea, it's not like he just _gave_ Sparrow to that Clan." Eagle challenged.

"It may as well be." Smokey muttered. She turned to Tree, "You need to cover for me while I get Sparrow back."

"You're getting him back?" Tree questioned.

Smokey glared at the shorter tom. "Yes."

The two brothers shrugged as Smokey stalked off to Stone.

"I'm going to hunt squirrels, it's my specialty." Smokey reported.

Stone snorted. "All the way on the other side of the lake?"

"Yes. I'm not needed for anything else, am I?"

Stone thought for a moment. "No, you are on hunting duty so…"

Smokey nodded and padded quickly along the lake. It was getting dark, and the sun would be gone by the time she reached the forest. Since she wasn't near the borders that the clans patrolled at dusk, and the hunting patrol would be heading back, she was in a good location.

The tall white she-cat leaped silently on the branch of an oak tree. The sun hadn't set completely yet, as she'd hoped, so a border patrol may still be out.

Smokey continued to leap through the trees, she was happier there then on the ground, when she heard talking. Smokey peered through the leaves as an approaching patrol marked the border.

"We showed those rogues!" The squeaky voice informed Smokey that the cat was only a few moons younger than her.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure those rogues showed us." Another voice responded. Smokey smirked at the comment.

She bristled slightly as she caught sight of a golden tom with a ginger streak running from his nose to the end of his tail. _The golden apprentice who stole Sparrow!_

The patrol stopped under her tree. "Featherpaw, can you smell that?" The golden apprentice asked.

The small gray she-cat shook her head. "It must be your imagination, Blazepaw. There is just the smell of the forest and the scent of WindClan, but that would because we're at the border." Smokey was grateful that she had crossed the moors to get here.

_Blazepaw! I'll remember that name…_ Smokey inwardly growled.

The young she-cat followed the small patrol silently from the tree back to their camp. When they entered the thorn barrier, Smokey circled around the hollow. She decided to hunt and rest some, while the cats would settle into deeper sleep.

It was moonhigh when Smokey leaped soundlessly into the camp and followed Sparrow's scent. She was fully aware that the guard had yet to notice her. She was relieved to find that there wasn't any guard outside the den that Sparrow was in.

"Sparrow," She hissed silently to small black tom.

Sparrow stared up at her with light blue eyes. "No!" He whispered. "They're expecting you! It's a trap!"

Smokey looked at Sparrow in confusion. She was suddenly knocked away from the den. Smokey whirled around to face a large golden tom.

_Lion's Roar…_

Smokey flattened her ears when she realized who the cat was. This was a battle she was certain she would lose if she let it come to that. The cat looked just about ready to wake the Clan.

"No need to do that." Smokey whispered.

Lion's Roar looked confused for a moment then bared his teeth at her. "Who are you?"

"I am Smokey, Lion's Roar."

Lion's Roar looked confused, and there was a gasp from behind her. Smokey whirled around to face Blazepaw. "Hi, I'm –"

"Blazepaw," Smokey hissed.

Blazepaw blinked. "So you _do_ remember. Lionblaze! I told you she knows of the past, just as I do."

"Why are you here, and how do you know my son?" Lion's Roar growled.

Smokey was confused. "Lionblaze? Isn't he Lion's Roar? The cat that can't be harmed, who was got his wish to join the Clans?"

Blazepaw's eyes glowed with happiness for some reason. "Yes! But to the Clans, he is known as Lionblaze and wait – what do you mean "got his wish to join the Clans"?"

Smokey narrowed her eyes. "You remember the past. Sure, why not. But you still took Sparrow."

"Actually, could you stay? I would like to ask you about your rogue group. What they want, how we can defeat them…" Blazepaw listed.

Smokey hissed and slashed Blazepaw across the nose. This caused Lion's Roar – Lionblaze – to growl at her. "Why would I tell you that? The Clans will pay for forgetting their promise! They will pay for breaking it!"

Blazepaw yowled as blood started dripping from his nose. Smokey widened her eyes. Blazepaw had woken the Clan!

The tall she-cat was surrounded by hissing ThunderClan warriors. Smokey snarled and lunged at Blazepaw, landing a well-aimed blow right above his eye. This caused the rest of the Clan to lunge at her, but she had already leaped over their heads and was pelting to the other side of the hollow, only to leap out of it and continue into the trees.

_Bet they didn't expect that. They don't even know what SkyClan is!_ Smokey smirked as she circled the camp of the stunned warriors. Rescuing Sparrow would have to wait another day.

Before she reached the stream at the moor, Smokey had caught three squirrels from the trees. She pelted along the lake thinking that she should help Hawk. She followed his scent trail and knew where he was. Smokey decided that rescuing Hawk would also have to wait, and dashed back to the horseplace.


	19. Chapter 19: Beetlepaw

Chapter19: Beetlepaw

"Hurry up, Nightpaw! You're starting to fall behind!" Beetlepaw called joyfully as he raced between the trees towards the WindClan border.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Slow down!" Nightpaw wheezed from behind him.

Grasspelt and Pebblefoot had agreed to take the three apprentices, Nightpaw, Beetlepaw, and Foxpaw, training while Foxpaw's mentor recovered from a meeting with a fox. The fox won't be returning any time soon.

Beetlepaw skidded to a halt at the lake. Nightpaw dashed out after him. They were closely followed by Grasspelt and Pebblefoot, along with Foxpaw in a halfhearted trot.

Foxpaw had been quiet the last couple of days. He wouldn't even his or snarl at Beetlepaw. Despite the way Foxpaw had treated him, Beetlepaw felt sorry for the younger apprentice.

"Hah! I win, Nightpaw!" Beetlepaw gloated.

"Oh yea?" Nightpaw sneered before he leaped on Beetlepaw and the two started to tussle playfully. Beetlepaw had grown significantly in the past moon, and now he was almost Nightpaw's size.

"Alright, remember, we still need to patrol the WindClan border." Pebblefoot reminded the brothers when they separated.

"Yes! And then we can go scout for those rogues," Nightpaw said gleefully. This caused Beetlepaw to sigh slightly.

Grasspelt purred. "Okay, so we better get moving."

The patrol remarked the border without incident. Although, Nightpaw was boasting about fighting the rogues the entire time.

"… And then, I'd take on their leader! By that time every other rogue would be–" Nightpaw was saying.

"Okay we get it!" Beetlepaw snapped. "You need to be quiet; otherwise you'll let the rogues know that we're here." Beetlepaw lowered his voice.

Nightpaw didn't speak a single word after that.

They soon arrived at the border with the horseplace, the patrol swiftly, and silently, crossed it and followed the fence to where they could smell a great number of cats. The five of them continued until Grasspelt signaled for them to stop. The hid in some tall grasses that also masked their scent, and they were within earshot of a big gray tom with gray eyes.

"… Alright, Ice, Frost, you two said that you could fish? Then go get some fish! Smokey still isn't back yet from her squirrel hunting across the lake, and we still need prey." Two white tabby she-cats, one with pale stripes and light blue eyes, the other with black stripe and dark blue eyes, nodded and ran off in the direction of the lake.

"Now they're stealing out fish!" Nightpaw whispered.

"Shh!" Pebblefoot commanded before turning back to the rogues.

Suddenly, a tall white she-cat with a darkening tail leaped down from the barn. Beetlepaw and the patrol didn't even notice she was there. The cat went over to the gray tom.

"Smokey! Finally! What took you so long?" The gray some hissed. _Smokey! I knew I recognized her_

"Apologies, Stone, but those ThunderClan cats make a lot of racket, and it is truly hard to find anything. They don't even know how to hunt in their own territory. I also took the time to scout it out. Their camp is in a large stone hollow in the center of the woods. It's so open there." Smokey replied.

"Well, at least you brought _something_ back," Stone growled.

Smokey went over and dropped the three squirrels she'd been carrying over to fairly large prey pile. It contained fresh kill from all of the Clan territories around the lake; fish from RiverClan, rabbits from WindClan, squirrels from ThunderClan, and even some frogs from ShadowClan. These rogues planned on staying for a while. After setting down her prey, Smokey went over to two white toms; one dark brown with lighter patches and white paws, who looked like Eaglepaw from WindClan, and the other being light brown with white stripes.

"It appears that he missed me," Smokey growled to the brown and white striped tom.

"What? How was I supposed to cover for you when you spent all day and night over there? And right after the battle, too! It was plenty obvious that you went looking for Sparrow. How'd it go?" The tom replied.

"It was horrible, Tree," Smokey snorted. "Apparently Lion's Roar got his wish! He is in ThunderClan." This caused the other tom to bristle.

"What?! How is that fair! He's forgotten and he still got his wish to join them?" He snarled.

Tree laid his tail on who Beetlepaw assumed was his brother. "Eagle, you don't know that he's forgotten. There could be some that remember like us." Nightpaw and Beetlepaw glanced at each other.

"Oh no, he's forgotten. He didn't even know his own name! The Clans call him Li –" Smokey narrowed her eyes at the grass where the patrol was hiding, but Tree and Eagle didn't seem to notice. "Uh, I'll tell you later. We should probably go practice… I'll meet you at training in a minute."

The two brothers looked at each other, then they padded out of sight. Smokey had disappeared, too.

Grasspelt signaled for the patrol to leave, and they crept slowly out of the grass and through the underbrush. They were sure that the rogues couldn't see them, if they were even looking. Suddenly, a strong force landed on Nightpaw. Beetlepaw and the rest of the patrol whirled around and hissed at the attacker.

Smokey sat back on her haunches on top of Nightpaw. "I could always call to my group members."

Beetlepaw kept his claws out and fur bushed. Grasspelt gave no signal to attack.

Smokey rolled her eyes at them. She was still pinning Nightpaw, even though the tall she-cat couldn't be much older than him.

Beetlepaw sighed and slid his claws in. "Relax. She's not going to attack us." Pebblefoot gave him a strange look. Beetlepaw shook his head. "If she was, she wouldn't have sent Tree and Eagle away, and pursued us herself. She isn't stupid, she knew we were there." Smokey snorted, and eyed Beetlepaw curiously.

"Alright...so what _do_ you want?" Grasspelt asked carefully.

"You don't remember." Smokey hissed.

"Yea, what are you talking about?" Pebblefoot questioned. "You were talking to Tree and Eagle about remembering, and some cat named Lion's Roar. What was that about?" Pebblefoot's questions might have been a mistake, as she snarled at him and slid he claws into Nightpaw's pelt.

"You have forgotten. That is why we are here, to get revenge on the one who forgot!" She growled. "You should leave."

"Get off of Nightpaw." Pebblefoot hissed.

Smokey looked like she had just thought of something. Beetlepaw didn't like the look in her eyes. "Alright. How about a trade? My friends had been captured by two of your Clans. Hawk is in WindClan and Sparrow is in ThunderClan. Bring them to your next gathering and you can have Nightpaw back."

Pebblefoot looked like he wanted to tear Smokey into crowfood, but Grasspelt shook his head. "This is not a battle we can win," he looked at Smokey, "yet."

The patrol left without another word back to their territory. Beetlepaw stole one last look at Nightpaw and the rogue. Smokey had a determined and angry look on her face.


	20. Chapter 20: Harepaw

Harepaw gazed into a fox's old den. Inside, there was a dark, sleeping shape. This was the form of Hawk, a rogue that Harepaw had capture just a quarter moon ago. Harepaw was sure he knew something, but they hadn't managed to get any information from him. Hawk spent most of his time sleeping, but at night, Harepaw had seen him looking at the stars.

Harepaw hadn't heard anything from Beetlepaw or Nightpaw. He's barely seen Blazepaw, except when the young apprentices were hunting and Blazepaw told him that the cat Smokey had stuck into the ThunderClan camp. She'd escaped without causing damage.

Harepaw sighed, and was about to leave when he cause Hawk's blue gaze. Harepaw stared into his knowing eyes for a moment before entering fully.

"They're nearly upon us." Hawk whispered so that the guards outside could not hear.

Harepaw cocked his head. "Who?"

"Those barn cats." When Hawk saw that Harepaw still didn't understand, he shook his head. "The ones that _have come to help_."

Harepaw stared and Hawk in shock. "How do you know about that?" He whispered.

"You're not the only one who gets prophecies, you already know I remember." Hawk hissed.

"When will they come?" Harepaw asked solemnly.

"About a day or so before your little gathering."

Harepaw nodded and stood up to leave. It was then he realized how weak Hawk seemed, not stretching his legs for a quarter moon. "Uh, do you want to go for a jog? You don't look so good."

Hawk snorted, but he stood up anyway.

"Can I take Hawk for a jog?" Harepaw asked Crowfeather, who was on guard duty.

Crowfeather glared at Hawk. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

"It was my idea. I could take Eaglepaw, also." Harepaw mewed briskly.

Crowfeather sighed. "It's a good think Eaglepaw hasn't gone on patrol. Stay close to camp to that you can get reinforcements if he tries to escape."

Harepaw eagerly bounded off to where Eaglepaw was sunning himself. "Hey, Eaglepaw!" His brother looked up at him. "C'mon!"

Eaglepaw got up and bounded over to him. "What's up?" He asked.

"We are taking to rogue for a jog!" Eaglepaw stared at him. "What?"

"Why would we take the rogue for a jog?"

Harepaw sighed. "C'mon, let's go."

Eaglepaw shrugged and followed Harepaw out of camp. The rogue, Hawk was his name, between the brothers.

"How about a race?" Harepaw asked when they were on the hill that stood above the camp.

Hawk shrugged. Eaglepaw didn't look like he liked the idea. "Are you sure about that?" Eaglepaw motioned to Hawk.

"Don't worry; if _you're so fast_, and he tries to escape, you're _bound_ to catch him." Harepaw praised.

Eaglepaw puffed out his chest with pride. Despite the tom trying to act mysterious, Harepaw could see that Hawk was amused at Eaglepaw's arrogance.

"Alright, then. First one to where the RiverClan border meets the lake." Harepaw announced. As the three got into position, Harepaw counted down. "… three, two, one…" Hawk had a look of pure determination as he crouched, as if ready to chase down a rabbit. Harepaw was sure that Hawk had WindClan blood in him, and was betting that Hawk was the fastest. Eaglepaw stole a glance at the lean black tom and rolled his eyes. "GO!" The three cats raced for the border.

It was close between Harepaw and Eaglepaw. Harepaw guessed that he was just letting Eaglepaw's ignorance grow, or that he didn't know the territory well and was watching their direction. It appeared that Hawk was the slowest, as he kept losing ground to the apprentices and he wasn't speeding up. Then, like a shadow, he was gone. Eaglepaw didn't seem to notice, and Harepaw was curious of what he might do. Harepaw and Eaglepaw kept on racing to the border. There were almost there when Harepaw spotted a dark form sitting on a boulder. As they neared, it was obviously Hawk.

Hawk yawned, which only made Eaglepaw angrier than he already was about losing to the rogue. "What took you so long?" The tom wasn't even panting.

"How… you… shadow…" Harepaw gasped for breath. "You disappeared. I thought you might try something, like sneak up on us. But this? Wow!"

Eaglepaw glared at his brother. "Seriously? He cheated! There is no way he could have beaten us. I saw him fall behind, and we also took the fastest route!"

Harepaw turned to face Eaglepaw. "That only shows how much faster he is."

Eaglepaw snarled. This caused Hawk to slouch and flatten his ears. "What did you do?" Eaglepaw growled at the rogue.

Hawk said nothing, and looked across the lake. Eaglepaw looked as if he was about to pounce on him when Harepaw laid his tail on his brother's shoulders. He bounded in front of Hawk, and was able to see his eyes. They were clouded and unfocussed. "… Hawk…?" Harepaw saw something else in the lean cat's eyes… they were searching, for something. But when Harepaw turned to look across the lake, he didn't see anything. "…Hawk…? Hawk, what is it?"

Eaglepaw jumped up beside his brother. He could see genuine worry in Harepaw's eyes. "What? Worried about some rogue?"

Harepaw ignored Eaglepaw, and tried to snap Hawk out of his trance. Suddenly, the young tom's eyes focused, and he hunched over. "Uh…" Hawk shook his head, as if to clear it of fog. He half jumped, half fell, of the boulder they were sitting on. He then began to slowly limp up the hill.

"Here, lean on me." Harepaw said when he jumped off the rock. Hawk gave him a confused look, but appeared too tired to ask.

"Hey, wait!"

An unfamiliar voice caused Harepaw and Hawk to freeze and turn around. Standing across the border were five RiverClan warriors. _That's a big patrol!_ Harepaw thought. Eaglepaw leapt down to join his brother.

"Yes?" Harepaw replied as calmly as he could.

A pale gray tabby she-cat was leading the patrol. With here was a white she-cat white blue eyes, Icewing – Harepaw recognized her from gatherings, Minnowtail, a dark gray she-cat, another pale gray tabby she-cat, Graymist, and a tortoiseshell-and-white tom, Robinwing.

"Is that the rogue Hawk?" The first cat asked. Harepaw realized that she was Troutstorm, a young RiverClan warrior.

Eaglepaw narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

Icewing bristled and bared her fangs. Troutstorm laid her tail on the white she-cat's side. She turned back to the apprentices. "We just were… wondering. Could you please answer the question?" There was a slight urgency in her voice.

Harepaw nodded. He knew something was wrong, so he chose to give the patrol their answer. "This is Hawk." The black tom had his eyes narrowed and his claws out the entire time. Harepaw knew that he was around his own age because he was only a little bit taller than the brothers, and that appeared to just be because of muscle.

"Um, well… could we, uh, have him?" Troutstorm seemed to have trouble phrasing her question.

Harepaw widened his eyes and stepped in front of Hawk. "Have him? Why?"

"Why are you asking? Let's just take him!" Icewing hissed, this caused her to receive a glare from Graymist.

Troutstorm shook her head. "I doesn't matter. Just bring him to the next gathering. And could you tell ThunderClan to bring their prisoner, Sparrow, to the next gathering, also?"

Harepaw narrowed his eyes. "Okay… I'll talk to Onestar about it."

Troutstorm dipped her head and the patrol watched as the three cats disappeared over the ridge.

When they returned to camp, the Clan must have sensed their worry, as they were all up and bristling in an instant. "Onestar!" Harepaw called.

"What is it, Harepaw?" The leader asked.

"RiverClan just requested that we bring Hawk to the gathering. The also asked if we could tell ThunderClan to bring their prisoner, Sparrow, to the gathering, as well!" Harepaw responded.

"Why would they do that?" Onestar asked.

"I think something's happened. They need _both_ of the rogues that the Clan have collected for prisoners? I don't think so." Eaglepaw sniffed.

"Then what do you think we should do? If you're so certain."

Eaglepaw's eyes gleamed. "They sounded urgent. I wouldn't doubt that one of their own has been captured, and they're trading the prisoners. Hawk gives us something on RiverClan. We should get something out of this. But we should ask them before the gathering."

Onestar nodded. "I'll have to agree, but we should still tell ThunderClan of RiverClan's offer."

Hawk gazed around the camp, wide eyed with worry, during the entire debate. After Onestar gave his command, Hawk was ushered into the fox burrow from before. WindClan doubled their guard.


	21. Chapter 21: Blazepaw

**A/N: Three week anniversary of ****_Those Who_**** Remember posting one chapter a day and each chapter is about 1,000 words! Now I really want to know how you feel about ****_Dawn of the Clans: The Sun Trail_****. You were supposed to read that before this story so I don't spoil it for you (that is why this story is taking so long to really get started). So which character can you relate to the most? I'll tell you mine in a couple of chapters (it is TBD but not to far off, I'm not sure which, but if someone would guess and guess correct then I would post it in the next chapter after they guess). Here is the list:**

**Beetlepaw**

**Blazepaw**

**Smokepaw**

**Harepaw (the first four are kind of biased because they're trying to save the Clans)**

**Smokey**

**Hawk**

**Sparrow**

**Frost**

**Ice**

**Tree**

**Eagle**

**Stone**

**Spike/Jumper/Hoot**

**Smokey**

**Dove**

**Cloud**

**I know that some of them you don't really know, but the cats that have come to help the Clan are still one their way and that really cuts down a lot of the choices**

**JOIN IMAGINECLAN**

**ONTO THE STORY! :D :D :D**

Chapter21: Blazepaw

"Come on! We're on the dawn patrol!" Featherpaw's excited mew awakened Blazepaw.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming. Keep your fur on." Blazepaw yawned as he left the den. It had been several sunrises since the rouge had attacked. Bramblestar was sure she must have some ThunderClan blood in her to make her jump so high. Sandstorm agreed that she might have Clan blood, but not ThunderClan.

"Glad to see you actually managed to drag yourself out of your nest." Ivypool let out a snort of amusement. She was leading the patrol, and Cherryfern was coming along with them as they checked the WindClan borders.

The patrol had mostly remarked the entire border, and was down by the lake. Suddenly, a WindClan patrol started racing for the border. The stopped just before crossing, they looked urgent.

"We have a message from RiverClan!" Emberfoot, who happened to be leading the patrol, shouted.

Harepaw, who was also on the patrol, beckoned Blazepaw off to the side as the two patrol camp closer to hear the message from RiverClan.

"Hawk says that the ones who have come to help us are close." Harepaw hissed. Blazepaw stared at Harepaw questioningly. "I know, I know. But why shouldn't he? After all, we had dreams of the rogues attacking." Blazepaw nodded in agreement and moved back to his patrol.

"… To the next gathering." Ivypool nodded and the two patrols departed back to their own camps.

"Um… what was that about?" Blazepaw whispered to Featherpaw.

Featherpaw purred. "What? Were you too busy gossiping with that WindClan apprentice? The just said that we needed to bring Sparrow to the next gathering for some reason. Hey, at least the WindClan apprentice wasn't a she-cat, then I might have been offended!"

Blazepaw started to purr with Featherpaw, then stopped. _Wait… What did she just say?_

When the patrol got back to camp, Ivypool immediately headed towards Bramblestar's den. Blazepaw went over to the edge of camp and watched the kits play, Sparrow with them. The kits had been the first to accept the young black tom, thinking he was just another cat to play with. Blazepaw watched at Berrynose and Poppyfrost's second litter taught Sparrow how to play moss ball. The ginger tom was surprised that he didn't already know, what did the kits do for fun in the rogues' group?

"… And then, you pounce on it. Like this!" Dustkit, a dust colored tom kit with green eyes, squeaked as he leaped on the moss ball. He had become great friends with the newcomer.

Dustkit's siblings, Lichenkit, a dark cream tabby she-kit with green eyes, and Darkkit, a dark tabby tom with amber eyes, had their own plan of getting the moss ball. Lichenkit leaped onto Dustkit and bowled him over, while Darkkit snuck around and stole it. The kits were about five moons old, so Sparrow wasn't much bigger than him.

"Sparrow! Get the moss ball!" Dustkit shouted as he tussled with his sister.

Sparrow charged after Darkkit, quickly out pacing him. He snagged the moss ball right out of him claws and brought it back over to Dustkit, who was now circling with Lichenkit.

"No fair! Lichenkit, help me get it back!" Darkkit snarled.

Lichenkit broke off from Dustkit and she and Darkkit jumped onto Sparrow. Of course, they were only playing, with claws sheathed, but apparently Sparrow didn't know that. The newcomer was surprised as he was knocked to the ground, and was quickly on top of his attackers, clawing their ears off with fangs bared. Dustkit ran over to his siblings.

"Sparrow, stop! No! They weren't really attacking you and –" Dustkit tried to calm his friend. Blazepaw, who had of course taken action, pulled Sparrow off of the two ThunderClan kits, which were now shaking in fear and covered in scratches. Alerted by the noise made by the kits, most of the Clan was rushing over to where Blazepaw had set Sparrow down and Lichenkit and Darkkit were mewling in fear.

"My kits! My poor kits! Jayfeather!" Poppyfrost screeched when she saw how bloodied they were. Blazepaw wasn't surprised that they would be hurt that much; he thought they would have been hurt more the way Sparrow fought in battle. Blazepaw guessed that Sparrow had just been startled and thought he was defending himself.

Lilypaw quickly rushed from the medicine den. "What happened?" She asked when she arrived.

"What happened? _What happened?!_" The frantic queen screeched. They had drawn the attention of Bramblestar, who was talking with Squirrelflight and Ivypool in his den. _That's just _great. Blazepaw thought. "What happened was that this _monster_," she snarled at Sparrow, who flattened his ears and crouched lower, "came and just attacked my poor kits!"

"That's not true –" Dustkit tried to defend Sparrow.

"That monster must have done something to Dustkit, too! To think one of my own would try to help him when he saw what happened!" Poppyfrost interrupted as she ushered her three kits into the medicine den.

Sparrow was covering in fright, as the ThunderClan warriors surrounded him, spitting insults at the small tom. Blazepaw placed his paws around the kits protectively. It was clear when Blazepaw was watching that Sparrow hadn't meant to harm the other kits.

"Monster!" Berrynose snarled and swiped at Sparrow, who only crouched closer to Blazepaw.

"Stop!" Bramblestar ordered as he pushed his way through the crowd. He glared at all the warriors who were surrounding Sparrow, clearly telling them to back off. His gaze softened slightly when he turned back to Sparrow and Blazepaw, even though anger could still clearly be seen in their depths. "Now," he started, "tell me what happened."

Sparrow tried to answer, but he was shaking to hard, and just curled up with his tail covering his nose, as if to hide from it all. "Well, Dustkit was teaching Sparrow to play moss ball," Blazepaw began, "and Lichenkit and Darkkit came to play and Lichenkit leaped on Dustkit while Darkkit stole the moss ball. Dustkit told Sparrow to get the moss ball, so he did. When Sparrow came back to Dustkit with the moss ball, Darkkit asked Lichenkit for help and they both jumped on Sparrow. After that, I'm not sure what happened. They must have startled Sparrow and make him think they were attacking, so he tried to defend himself." Berrynose let out a snort at the last part.

"Yea, defend himself by shredding them." He growled.

Bramblestar flashed a glare that quickly shut the arrogant warrior up. He turned back to Sparrow and sighed. "He probably didn't mean to hurt them, we still don't know anything about those rogues. But the fact remains that he _did_ hurt them, so as of right now, no kit is allowed to come into contact with him." Before Blazepaw could object, the tabby leader was already leaping up to his den, trailed by Squirrelflight, Ivypool, Dovewing, Lionblaze, and strangely Jayfeather. Lilypaw was tending to the kits.

Once the warriors had dispersed enough, and Blazepaw saw that Sparrow was okay, Blazepaw snuck up to the Highledge to listen to what the six cats were going to say that involved the medicine cat. It was obviously about prophecies.

"… That rogue she-cat, Smokey, she called me Lion's Roar. Blazepaw sounded like he understood what she was saying." Blazepaw heard Lionblaze say.

"I might see what he is dreaming. I've heard Stonepaw, Smokepaw, and Featherpaw chattering about Blazepaw's dreams." Jayfeather's voice came next.

"Dovewing, have you heard anything about the rogues?" Bramblestar asked.

"No, it seems I cannot see their camp, it's as if it is covered in mist. But I can hear RiverClan buzzing about how Nightpaw was stolen b

"Dovewing, have you heard anything about the rogues?" Bramblestar asked.

"No, it seems I cannot see their camp, it's as if it is covered in mist. But I can hear RiverClan buzzing about how Nightpaw was stolen by them. That must be why RiverClan need Hawk and Sparrow to come to the next gathering." Blazepaw gasped. It all made sense now! They were _the_ three. Lionblaze was Lion's Roar, Jayfeather was Jay's Wing, and Dovewing was Dove's Wing! _They even have the same name._ Blazepaw thought.

"Blazepaw, is there something you needed?" Blazepaw flinched slightly when he heard Bramblestar's deep, annoyed mew.

Blazepaw entered the den, and when Bramblestar motioned for him to sit, he sat.

Jayfeather sighed. "Alright, how much did you hear?" He asked.

Blazepaw shuffled his paws. "Enough." When Blazepaw realized that all this did was cause the six other cats to stare at him suspiciously, he decided to tell them the truth, from the beginning. "I know you are the three. Not just with your powers, but from The Tribe of Rushing Water, and before that, here at the lake. How you were Dove's Wing, Jay's Wing, and Lion's Roar. I know about the connection of the Clans and the Tribe. I know about the Dawn. The _first_ Dawn, as we like to call it."

"We?" Ivypool asked.

"Yes, there are three other apprentices that remember."

"Remember? That's exactly what Smokey was talking about. Who are these cats?" Lionblaze questioned.

"Harepaw from WindClan, Smokepaw from ShadowClan, and Beetlepaw and Nightpaw from RiverClan; Beetlepaw told his brother, Nightpaw, about his dreams. We think that the rogues remember the Dawn, as well, and that is why they are angered. Not all of them feel the same way, though. A few seem as if they wish to help the Clans. There is another group of rogues coming who also remembers. This group comes to help us. Just as us three from the Clans knew that the rogues were coming, the rogues know that these other cats are coming. Harepaw told me that Hawk told him that those others cats are nearing."

"You _knew_ that the rogues were coming?" Dovewing was shocked. Apparently, she didn't know about the rogue, as with the rest of the Clans. "And you didn't tell us?"

Blazepaw looked at his paws. "I-I didn't know if you'd believe me."

Lionblaze sighed. "It's okay, when we first learned about our powers, we didn't tell anyone, either. Now, what was the promise?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't sorted out my memories that far. You are a part of it, greatly. I'll let you know if I discover something, and I'll tell the others that we aren't alone in this." Blazepaw nodded before being dismissed to his den. It had been a long day, and he needed the rest, especially to sort out his memories.


	22. Chapter 22: Smokepaw

**Happy tau day! :D (Everyone pretend I posted this at 3:18:53) tau is 2*pi. My brother thinks that it's way better than pi. So, spread tau awareness!**

**Join ImagineClan!**

**Onto the story.**

Chapter22: Smokepaw

"… and then, I used your trick and leaped down from the tree right on top of her!" Hollowpaw finished his story of his battle training experience from earlier that day. The sun was setting, and Smokepaw was eating and exchanging news with the younger apprentices. She was still debating about telling Hollowpaw who he was, but decided to ask Blazepaw first when they would meet that night.

"I could have so beaten you if you hadn't cheated and used that ThunderClan move!" Yewpaw countered.

"It's not a ThunderClan move! I-I think it's from other Clan…" Hollowpaw muttered and took another bite of his shrew.

"Hah! Another Clan? There have always been four Clans!" Vinepaw sneered.

Yewpaw nodded in agreement. "Besides, I think you're more a WindClan cat than a ShadowClan cat! You're so skinny and fast."

Strangely, Smokepaw felt herself brisling Vinepaw's comment. _SkyClan deserves to be known! It's not fair that they were driven out. We should –_ What was she thinking? Smokepaw shook her head to clear it of the strange thoughts, only to have Hollowpaw look at her strangely.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Uh… yes, I'm fine. I should probably get some sleep now." Smokepaw rose to her paws and padded swiftly over to the apprentices' den. Smokepaw curled up for a short nap and waited for the others to fall asleep.

Smokepaw blinked open her eyes. She was satisfied when she heard the deep breathing of the two other apprentices. _Wait… two?_ Smokepaw crept her way over to Hollowpaw. When she saw him twitching silently in his sleep, she left the den. _He's probably dreaming about catching a mouse or something._

Before long, Smokepaw spotted Blazepaw waiting in their usual clearing. Smokepaw purred when she greeted him.

"It's so good to see you again! You have to go to the next gathering. Something big is happening." Blazepaw seemed troubled.

"Why? What's happening?" Smokepaw gazed into Blazepaw's troubled eyes.

"Just make sure you go there. It's about the rogues."

Smokepaw sighed. "There is something I must tell you."

Blazepaw perked his ears in worry. "ShadowClan has recently gotten three new apprentices; Vinepaw, Yewpaw, and Hollowpaw. Hollowpaw is from the past, even though he doesn't remember it."

Blazepaw's eyes brightened for some reason. "Just like Lion's Roar, Dove's Wing, and Jay's Wing! I've spoken with them and Bramblestar. We aren't alone anymore."

Smokepaw pulled back from Blazepaw. "We were never alone!" She hissed. "We had each other. How could you tell them?"

Blazepaw shuffled his paws. "Well, uh, they sort of found out…"

Smokepaw snorted then sighed. "Alright, fine."

"And, also, you know how you said Hollowpaw is from the past?"

Smokepaw nodded.

"Who was he?"

Smokepaw sighed. "He's Jackdaw's Cry."

Blazepaw looked confused. "Who's he?"

Smokepaw thought for a moment. "I'm not sure. I think he was one of the first WindClan cats."

Smokepaw whirled around when she heard a faint gasp. "Come out, Hollowpaw!" She hissed. He followed her? But he was asleep! When Hollowpaw emerged, Smokepaw asked, "How much did you hear."

The young black tom looked guilty for a second, and then apparently he couldn't hold in his excitement. "I heard about the three, and how you remember, and about the pas, and – about… me."

Smokepaw sighed. "Why did you follow me?"

"I-I didn't mean to cause harm. I was dreaming, and this older tom who looked a lot like me came up and told me to wake up and follow you. When I asked him who he was, he said that he's my spirit. So I woke up and came here."

"He looked like you? And he said he was your spirit?" Smokepaw turned to glance at Blazepaw.

"That's not how it's like for the three." He confirmed.

"Then it must be different for some. That was probably Jackdaw's Cry."

Hollowpaw shook his head. "No! …No it can't be! I'm as ShadowClan cat! Not WindClan."

"Some of the early WindClan cats, or cats who lived in the group on the moor, broke off to form ShadowClan after the great battle. Shadowstar was one of them. If Tall Shadow, who was the leader of the cats on the moor, became the leader of ShadowClan, Jackdaw's Cry also had black fur, so he might have joined her." Smokepaw pointed out.

Hollowpaw was nodding, then he stopped. "Wait. How did you know that?"

Blazepaw shook his head. "'When know more than we should.' Smokepaw, me, Harepaw from WindClan, Beetlepaw from RiverClan, and some of the rogues have these memories from the past."

Hollowpaw nodded understandingly.

"Since apparently you're in on this, too, make sure you go to the next gathering." Blazepaw looked between Smokepaw and Hollowpaw.

"Of course he'll go! He's a new apprentice. But I'm the only one who's not a new apprentice, but I'll still try to go. It might be hard." Smokepaw pointed out.

Blazepaw sighed. "I don't know about you, but I should probably go back to camp."

Smokepaw nodded. With two apprentices gone, the chances of someone noticing doubled.

The three departed. Blazepaw headed into ThunderClan territory while Smokepaw and Hollowpaw walked in silence.

"Smokepaw?" Blazepaw whispered. "Why are the rogues here. It has something to do with their memories?"

Smokepaw nodded. "They are angry to have been forgotten. They are mad that others have been forgotten, also, those who should have been remembered. They are also saddened by the Clan's ways."

Hollowpaw stopped and looked up at her. "Saddened? By what?"

"You remember how you were talking about another Clan?" Hollowpaw nodded. "There was, or is. The Clan SkyClan. The Clan cats who know about it call it the fifth Clan, but it is the first. They were driven from their territory when twolegs cut down their part of the forest."

"They didn't they just come to the lake with the rest of the Clans? They were driven out, too."

"If they were driven out at the time, then the Clans would still remember them." Smokepaw snapped. She sighed. "I'm sorry; I've just felt this way ever since Vinepaw said that…"

"Don't listen to Vinepaw. She's just trying to have everyone be on her side."

Smokepaw nodded and continued. "They were driven out long before the other Clans."

"Why didn't the Clans help them?" Hollowpaw asked.

"Because they were many mouse-hearts at the time! The each gave their own excuses, but mostly how SkyClan couldn't catch their type of prey. But surely if kittypets can learn, then forest born cats could learn to catch prey, as well?" Smokepaw spat. She looked up at the setting moon. "We need to head back now."

Hollowpaw nodded and they snuck quietly back into camp, and back into their nests.


	23. Chapter 23: Beetlepaw

Chapter23: Beetlepaw

Beetlepaw yawned and stretched. It had been another night since Nightpaw was gone. Beetlepaw sighed and went into the center of camp. Grasspelt was waiting for him.

"We are going to patrol the WindClan border with Petalfur and Robinwing." Grasspelt informed him.

Beetlepaw nodded and the two walked over to where the rest of the patrol was waiting.

"Mistystar sent us with a message for if we see a WindClan patrol." Robinwing stated ass the patrol left for the border.

They were soon facing the moorland, the distinct scent of WindClan rolling off the hills. The patrol was quick to mark the border, but halfway through, they met a WindClan patrol. The patrol consisted of Leaftail, Eaglepaw, Swallowtail, Sunstrike, and Gorsetail.

Robinwing dipped his head in greeting. He opened his mouth to tell them Mistystar's message, when Gorsetail interrupted him.

"Yea, we know. One of you has been captured and you need the rogues that we've captured to save them. We won't just give Hawk over. We want something in return." Gorsetail stated.

Robinwing snarled at him. "What do you mean "want something in return"?"

Gorsetail seemed to think for a minute. "We aren't sure, but Onestar will tell you at the next gathering."

"The next gathering?" Petalfur cut in. "We need Hawk by then!"

Gorsetail shrugged. "That's not WindClan's problem." The patrol turned to leave.

Beetlepaw was standing there, shocked, the entire time. "I don't think so." Robinwing stepped forward.

"Oh really?" Gorsetail turned back to the RiverClan patrol.

"Yea, if you won't hand Hawk over, then we'll have to take him." Robinwing growled, taking another step forward.

Gorsetail flicked his tail, signaling his patrol. The two patrol launched into battle. Beetlepaw found himself up against Sunstrike and Eaglepaw. Beetlepaw tried using the battle moves that he'd been taught, but the two were just too fast. When he would face off against one of the WindClan cats, the other would just trip him. Eventually, Robinwing yowled to the patrol.

"RiverClan, retreat!" Beetlepaw slipped free of Sunstrike and ran into the reeds with the rest of his patrol.

Before long the patrol was back at camp. Cats stopped what they were doing and surround them.

"What happened?"

"Who did this?"

"Was it the rogues again?"

"Enough!" Willowshine pushed through the crowd. "Can't you see they're hurt?" She began ushering the patrol to the medicine cat den.

Robinwing shook his head. "I must report to Mistystar."

Beetlepaw followed Willowshine into her den where she treated his scratches.

"Luckily, none of you has any major wounds. You all should be able to continue your normal activities tomorrow." Willowshine informed them.

Beetlepaw left the den to see the Clan gathered around for a Clan meeting.

"… We need that rogue. Tomorrow night we shall take him!" Mistystar's words brought cheering from the Clan.

Beetlepaw walked over to Icewing. "What was that about?"

The white she-cat's eyes were shining. "We are going to attack WindClan and take Hawk!"

Beetlepaw's eyes widened. He wanted to save his brother, but he didn't want to attack WindClan.

"Isn't it great?" Icewing asked.

"Um… well…" Beetlepaw stuttered. What could he say? That he didn't want to save his brother? "I want to help Nightpaw."

Icewing nodded and walked off to go on a patrol of something.

Beetlepaw sighed and grabbed a carp. It was so lonely without Nightpaw.

Foxpaw came over with a smaller fish. "Mind if I join you?" He asked.

Beetlepaw flicked his ear. He didn't care; Foxpaw had been avoiding the brothers for a while, ever since Fernpaw had been attacked. Fernpaw was almost done healing, she should be back to her apprentice duties by the next gathering.

"I'm sorry about your brother," Foxpaw mewed. He sighed. "I'm sorry about how I've treated you. I just… Fernpaw reminded me of my sister."

Beetlepaw perked up his ears slightly. He'd never heard Foxpaw say things like this. Foxpaw had a sister, but when they were kits, Flowerkit developed a severe case of greencough. She did not survive. Foxpaw and Flowerkit were very close; it had devastated the young tom when he lost his sister.

Foxpaw finished his fish and left Beetlepaw to his thoughts. Beetlepaw sighed after seeing Foxpaw leave camp with Rushheart. The black apprentice got up and when to the apprentices' den to get some sleep.

Beetlepaw twisted and turned all day and throughout the night. He had dreams of cats screeching and tearing at each other. Beetlepaw felt this had something to do with the coming battle. Suddenly, Beetlepaw appeared in a pile of rocks in the middle of a rushing river. _This is ancient Sunning Rocks!_ He though.

"You are correct, young one." Mudfur jumped up beside him. "When the river changed, ThunderClan and RiverClan fought over these rocks for many seasons."

Beetlepaw nodded. He knew a great much about these rocks from when the territory was called "The New Hunting Grounds" instead of "The Old Forest". He liked the first name better, not that the Clans would know why.

"The coming battle is not that of much bloodshed, it is also a much need one." Mudfur sighed. "It is a battle after that, I fear."

Beetlepaw nodded. "Smokey is a descendant of Clear Sky?" He asked.

Mudfur stared at him. "Your remembrance never fails to surprise me, young one."

"And Clear Sky only had one living son… Thunder." Beetlepaw looked up at Mudfur. "She's ThunderClan?"

Mudfur shook his head. "No. She would have been SkyClan." He sighed. "It is time for you to leave."

Beetlepaw looked down at his paws to find that he could see the rock beyond. "Until next time, Mudfur."

The StarClan cat nodded, and then everything faded to nothingness.

**Okay, this chapter is less than 1,000 words without this author's note. D: it's only 954 words! I would have put the battle in this chapter and had an extra-long chapter, but I needed this in a different cat's POV, much like the first battle with the rogues. Until tomorrow!**

**Addition: Okay, I am very behind in my chapters because I was enjoying summer. I normally have at least three-four chapters more than what I've posted, but now I'm not even done with chapter 24! I'm going to work on it now, It's a big one, but I might not be able to post after that. I may, but I may not.**


	24. Chapter 24: Hawk

**Okay, a guest reviewed asking about Thunder's heritage. Thunder was born of ****_Storm_****, not River. That'd be weird because River is a tom. That is where Thunder got his name. It's towards the end of The Sun Trail.**

**I'm still not finished with chapter 25!**

Chatper24: Hawk

The black tom looked through the entrance into the bright, blue sky. The day was beautiful, but WindClan wouldn't even let the rogue sun himself outside ever since Gorsetail came back yesterday with the report of what happened on the RiverClan. The WindClan cats were certain that RiverClan would attack in a few days.

Hawk sighed and rested his head on his paws. He caught the sympathetic glance from Harepaw before the apprentice went off on a patrol. Hawk snorted at that. It was his fault that Hawk was in this situation. Hawk shook his head to clear his mind. _Stop it!_ He thought. _You're turning into Smokey. Just relax… _Hawk sighed and curled up into a ball.

The young tom could not sleep. All he'd been doing was sleep. He uncurled and walked into the patch of sunlight that had found its way into his den. _I'm going to be so fat when I return,_ he thought. He hadn't caught his own prey for all that he'd eaten. He'd eaten more, too. _I bet Smokey is the reason that WindClan and RiverClan are at each other's throats. Well, good job, Smokey! I bet you didn't even intend for this to happen. You probably failed in your first attempt to rescue Sparrow._ Harepaw had told him what happened when the rogues attacked ThunderClan, along with some ShadowClan cats.

Hawk sighed again. He hadn't meant for this to happen! He should have just gone with Goose and Ginger when he had the chance. The black tom shook his head. _No, you had to stay behind. You had to look after Smokey and Sparrow. I'll meet Goose again soon enough._ He thought as he lay lazily on his back, exposing his stomach to the gentle rays of sunshine.

Hawk slowly drifted off to sleep. The young tom found himself on a sunny hill overlooking a beautiful valley. Hawk was used to this spot this was the spot that he would go to in his dreams if he was to receive a message.

A black tom jumped down from a nearby tree. "Moon Shadow!" Hawk called to his ancestor. "What message do you have for me?"

Moon Shadow shook his head. "Be wary of the battle tonight. Be wary of the secrets on the full moon."

Hawk rolled his eyes as Moon Shadow stalked off. _Typical,_ he thought. _At least it is one of the simpler warnings._ With that, Hawk calmly waited for the visions that showed him where Boots's group was.

The darkness came rolling in. Unlike the visions the Clan cats had of the rogues going to the lake, these cats were bathed in light. They each wore grim, but excited expressions. Hawk was able to recognize quite a few, but all too many were unfamiliar.

"Hey, Boots. Are you sure this is the fastest route? The Black Hearted Rogues must have been at the lake _moons_ ago!" Hawk recognized the voice to belong to a familiar black tom with white tabby stripes.

Boots, a black tom with white patches and amber eyes, sighed. "Goose, if you truly wanted to arrive with the rogues, then you should have stayed with them." That successfully shut Goose up.

A young gray tabby tom kit with blue eyes leapt over rocks to get to the front of the group with Boots. The kit had an experienced air about him, and clearly knew more than his age should have allowed. "He is right, Boots." The kit, Hawk recognize as Raccoon for the significant black rings around his tail, said. "We should have been there by know. The route doesn't normally take this long."

Boots turned to look at Raccoon as they continued to walk. "We have a bigger group than normal."

Sally, a sand-colored she-cat with ginger patches and white paws and tail tip, spoke next. Her light green eyes were filled with worry. "The Black Hearted Rogues have a bigger group than us, but they still managed to get there faster."

Boots shook his head. "You should know that we had farther to travel. We needed to say goodbye to The New Hunting Grounds."

"Or what's left of it," Goose muttered.

As the dream faded, Hawk realized that they should be at the lake by the next full moon. That would certainly mean trouble.

Hawk woke up to find a rabbit at the mouth of the den, and the sun setting beyond the horizon. Hawk quickly ate the rabbit. Since he knew of the battle to come, and wasn't tired, Hawk waited. It would be best if his mind wasn't clouded with sleep.

It wasn't long after darkness fell that Hawk could scent the distinct spell of fish.

"RiverClan invasion!" One of the guards yowled.

Huge, sleek cats started streaming into the camp. While the WindClan cats were about the same size of him, considering he was the size and age of one of their apprentices, these cats were huge. They easily dwarfed most of the WindClan cats. It was clear that the Clan from the moor was used to it and used their speed to fight their attackers.

Hawk found that both of the guards outside his den were fighting the invaders. A large silhouette was outlined against the night sky. Hawk decided that he'd rather stay in WindClan. The young tom snarled and the RiverClan warrior, who growled back.

The gray warrior lunged at Hawk, who quickly jumped away. Hawk tried dashing in for quick attacks and retreating, but the den was to small for that. The black rogue found that the RiverClan warrior had squashed him against the wall of the den. Hawk was winded, and before he could do so much as twitch, the RiverClan warrior roughly lifted him by his scruff. Hawk snarled, he didn't like being picked up as it made him feel weak. The rogue lashed out at the RiverClan warrior, but the tom had a firm grip and Hawk couldn't turn to claw him.

As the passed through the battle that was raging in the center of the camp, Hawk saw the Harepaw was losing to a much larger warrior. He also saw that Eaglepaw was tussling with a black RiverClan apprentice. Suddenly, the gray warrior that was holding Hawk was barreled into. Leaftail lashed out at the RiverClan tom. "I don't think so, Pebblefoot." Leaftail snarled as Hawk was able to get free. Hawk decided to help WindClan, he felt that he should and rushed over to Harepaw.

Hawk ran over and jumped onto the RiverClan warrior. He snarled and tried to shake Hawk off, but Hawk would not give up easily. The warrior was in the process of trying to flip Hawk when he jumped off. Harepaw pinned the warrior and delivered several well-aimed blows to his exposed stomach. The warrior yowled and Harepaw let him flee.

Harepaw nodded to Hawk, who nodded back. The two found themselves against two more warriors, including Pebblefoot from before.

"Stay out of our camp, Pebblefoot!" Harepaw hissed at the larger warrior.

Pebblefoot snorted. "Why don't you just give up the rogue, and no one has to get hurt here, WindClan flea-pelt." Pebblefoot growled back.

"What? Afraid we might shred your beautiful pelt?" Harepaw mocked.

"Actually, I was trying to talk some sense into you." Pebblefoot snarled and lunged for Harepaw; while Hawk found himself up against another sleek, white she-cat.

As Hawk fought the warrior, he was able to hear what Harepaw and Pebblefoot said.

"What is so important about Hawk?" Harepaw questioned.

"He is needed to get my apprentice back! That stupid rogue captured him when we were spying on them!" Pebblefoot pinned Harepaw on his stomach.

Pebblefoot's confession made Hawk pause. That had to be Smokey! Hawk couldn't believe that she would go that far. Hawk's hesitation gave the RiverClan she-cat the chance to pin him. A couple more warriors joined them as they shoved Hawk out of camp.

"They've got Hawk!" Harepaw's yowled faded as the rest of RiverClan streamed out of the WindClan camp and surrounded them. Rain started soon after.

The entire way back to their camp, Pebblefoot was snarling and snapping at Hawk. Hawk decided that he didn't like him at all. Hawk also found that he was walking alongside the black RiverClan apprentice from before. The apprentice's strange black eyes were widened with fear, and he didn't look at Hawk. He just continued to look straight ahead.

When they reach camp, Hawk had difficulties crossing the slippery log. Pebblefoot made it harder with his continuous snapping. He almost slipped, which he was sure would greatly amuse Pebblefoot. This motivation gave Hawk the extra determination to cross.

When he was in the camp, he was shoved into a muddy den by the rushing river. The pouring of rain drained out much of the sound, scents, and sights of the camp. Hawk had no idea where he was.

Instead of a guard being place at his den, two were placed in the middle of camp. Every so often they would look over to make sure he didn't escape, not that he'd know the way.

The pounding rain lulled Hawk into a short sleep.


	25. Chapter 25: Beetlepaw

Chapter 25: Beetlepaw

Beetlepaw crept into the spare den the night before the gathering. He'd like to know a few things beforehand.

The young apprentice prodded the dark shape of the rogue in the ribs. The rogue leapt to his feet and got into an offensive crouch.

"What do you want?" The rogue snarled.

"Uh… Harepaw said your name was Hawk?" The statement came out as a question.

Hawk sat down. "You know Harepaw?" There was still and edge to his voice, but he seemed more ready to listen.

"Yea… you see, we –" Beetlepaw was saying.

"Know more than you should. Yea, obviously if you know Harepaw that well. What happened with Smokey?" Hawk interrupted.

"Well, we were spying, and Smokey came…" Beetlepaw started the tale of what happened with Nightpaw.

"I can't believe she would do that!" Hawk snarled. "By the look she gave you, she has her suspicions of you. Don't worry about your brother. If she sent Eagle and Tree away, then Nightpaw won't be known to the others."

Beetlepaw didn't know why, but he felt better when Hawk said that. "Could you tell me a few things?"

"Like what?" Hawk peered at Beetlepaw.

"Like useful things to know before the gathering tomorrow."

Hawk sighed. "Okay, so Smokey's going to be there?" Hawk continued when he saw Beetlepaw nod. "She just wants just. She wants the Clans to honor the ones who started them – and no, I'm not talking about just Riverstar, Thunderstar, Shadowstar, and Windstar. I'm talking about who they were before, they completely forgot about Skystar, but I guess that is one that Smokey is happy to have forgotten. But there are those that should be greatly remembered. The Clans don't even know where they came from! They don't know Shaded Moss, Storm, Fox, or Jagged Peak. They barely remember Gorsestar, Graystar, and Owlstar. The Clans need to know." Hawk stared into Beetlepaw's black eyes. "It is the only way for them to survive."

Beetlepaw shook his head. "But you know how stubborn the Clans are! They'd pass it up for lies. They'd believe themselves over "some rogues". How are we supposed to prove it?"

Hawk stared Beetlepaw down. "Because you will have help, help from the past."

Beetlepaw gave Hawk a look that said "are you serious?" This caused Hawk to snort in exasperation and roll his eyes.

"Look I have a plan," Hawk stated firmly.

Beetlepaw gazed expectantly at Hawk, who sighed and rolled his eyes again.

"Okay, here's the plan…" Hawk started.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Trust me. It has to work."

Beetlepaw nodded and left for the apprentices den. The night was almost up, and the next night was the gathering. Hawk curled up to get what little sleep he could.

It wasn't long before Beetlepaw was awoken to go training. Fernpaw was finally healthy enough to battle train, and the three apprentices went to the training hollow.

"RiverClan has the advantage because we will be on the island, which is surrounded by water. The best thing for you to do is to force your opponent off the shores. Let's start with some basic water tactics. Beetlepaw, you first," Pebblefoot took charge of the training.

Beetlepaw stood across from his mentor. He used what he knew to get Grasspelt into the water, and pin him, quite quickly, actually.

"Excellent job, Beetlepaw," Pebblefoot praised.

Fernpaw snorted.

Pebblefoot glared at Fernpaw. "Is something funny?"

"Well, just that I could do ten times better than that weakling." Fernpaw tried to look intimidating. It didn't work.

"I'm sorry, but _who_ was the one recovering in the medicine cats' den for _how_ many moons?" Beetlepaw rolled his eyes at Fernpaw.

Fernpaw glared at her brother. "It hasn't been that long."

"Alright, alright, you two. Fernpaw? If you're so confident, why don't you go next?" Pebblefoot cut in.

Fernpaw stood across from her mentor. "Okay, I'll show you how _real_ warriors fight," she boasted to Beetlepaw. To her mentor, she said, "Don't go easy on me like Grasspelt did with Beetlepaw."

Grasspelt hissed at Fernpaw's arrogance. Fernpaw rushed her mentor, who easily sidestepped and tripped Fernpaw into the water. Fernpaw's moments were chaotic and sloppy. Eventually, she was the one who was pinned.

"Now, Fernpaw, you let pride get in the way of your –" Pebblefoot was saying.

"Save it!" Fernpaw hissed. "I think I know a little bit more about this than _you_ do." She promptly stalked off with her head and tail held high.

Everyone was shocked. Foxpaw hissed and ran off after Fernpaw, clearly angry.

Pebblefoot turned to the rest of the group. "Well, I guess we should get back to camp." He followed Fernpaw and Foxpaw, who were appearing to be going back to camp.

**Okay, yea it's short and I took almost a month to make it, but I couldn't think of something! So I decided to post this to get something out. Next chapter's the gathering! Hopefully I have that out soon; I shouldn't take nearly as long. Sorry, guys.**


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